Darrin Henson won the MTV Video Music Award for the best choreography in 2,000 for the “Bye Bye Bye” music video. Following the iconic routine’s appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine, the choreographer is now suing Sony.
Deadpool (played by Ryan Reynolds) danced to “Bye Bye Bye” in the opening fight sequence of the 2024 release. The scene heavily inspired memes across popular social media platforms, leading to a spike in the streaming numbers of *NYSNC’s track.
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The dance move has also appeared in Fortnite. Henson claimed the dance move has now been “unjustly affiliated with Marvel”. The choreographer filed the lawsuit on March 27.
“The reality is that the work belongs to Henson, and to obtain full acknowledgement of his ownership and a complete transfer of all monies earned by SME and its licensees, the plaintiff must seek declaratory relief from the court,” wrote the choreographer’s lawyer in the suit, as sighted by Billboard.
Although Marvel and Epic Games were not named in the lawsuit, Henson said Sony wrongfully licensed the choreography to Epic Games in Fortnite as an “emote”.
Before going public, the choreographer said he approached Sony for an amicable resolution, but the company refused to budge. Sony claimed that since they own the copyrights to the “Bye Bye Bye” music video, they had the legal backing to license the dance to Epic and Marvel.
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The “Bye Bye Bye” dance emote debuted in Fortnite on September 24, 2024. It spent around 5 days in the shop before leaving and has not reappeared ever since.
Developers of popular franchises always try to avoid controversies. Several skin deals for popular franchises like Call of Duty have been canceled in the past to avoid dragging the franchise into controversy, and it is highly unlikely the Deadpool dance will make a return in the shop following this controversy.
