Jennifer Lopez suggests she is owed compensation from Google for her 2000 Grammy Awards green Versace dress, which Eric Schmidt confirmed was the most popular search query the company had ever seen at the time. This claim highlights a growing tension regarding how much credit and financial compensation celebrities should receive when their cultural influence drives the development of major technological tools.
Why is Jennifer Lopez claiming she is owed a “check” from Google?
During a June 5 episode of the SubwayTakes Uncut podcast, Jennifer Lopez stated that she should be compensated for inspiring the creation of Google Images. The singer, 56, linked the technological advancement directly to the massive search volume generated by her green Versace dress at the 2000 Grammy Awards.
“I feel like they owe me a check,” Lopez said during the podcast. She noted that the company, which she described as potentially being “trillionaires,” should provide compensation “just for karma, for good.”
Lopez believes the dress “broke the internet” before that term was widely used. She noted that the garment has returned to the cultural zeitgeist recently, citing its presence in the series Off Campus and the song “On The Floor.”
How the Versace dress changed search engine history
The dress, part of Versace’s Fall 1999 and Spring/Summer 2000 collections, became a digital phenomenon. The sheer volume of people attempting to find visual representations of the garment forced a shift in how search engines handled image-based queries.
The dress’s impact was not without risk. Lopez recalled in a 2019 interview with Vogue that her stylist, Andrea Lieberman, advised against wearing it. Lieberman suggested it might not be a “good move” because other stars had already worn similar looks. Lopez ignored the advice, stating she was simply excited to attend the Grammys.