A French indie institution says Netflix’s new Ed Sheeran special looks a little too familiar.
La Blogothèque, the Parisian collective known for reinventing the modern live session, is calling out Netflix over visual parallels in One Shot With Ed Sheeran.
The streaming giant’s new ‘single-take’ experiment is being accused of lifting from two decades of Blogothèque’s signature style.
One Shot, pitched as a seamless, real-time wander through New York’s streets, subways, and rooftops, arrived on Netflix with the promise of a “new kind of concert film.”
However, soon after its release, La Blogothèque posted a now-viral Instagram carousel highlighting uncanny visual overlaps with their well-known one-take sessions, which feature artists such as Phoenix, Sylvan Esso, The Lumineers, and Johnny Flynn.
Their message was pointed but slyly polite: “We’re flattered by the tribute paid to the thousands of one-shots we’ve produced over 20 years.”
Followers were then invited to “see for yourself.”
The side-by-side comparisons are hard to ignore.
Sheeran singing in a moving taxi versus Sylvan Esso’s 2014 cab session.
A bridge-crossing shot that mirrors Johnny Flynn’s 2008 wander; a bar performance resembling The Lumineers’ intimate pub gig.
Even a drone-swooping skyline shot is nearly identical to Phoenix’s 2013 film.
One frame shows Sheeran strumming as a couple gets engaged, eerily reminiscent of Phoenix performing at a wedding in 2009.
Nothing is pixel-perfect, but the visual vocabulary feels deeply, unmistakably Blogothèque.
For longtime fans of the French collective, the accusation hits a nerve.
La Blogothèque didn’t pioneer the single take, but they undeniably shaped a global aesthetic: live music as street poetry, performed in everyday spaces with no barricades between artist and audience.
Seeing a tech giant repurpose that intimacy, without acknowledgment, has raised larger questions about cultural borrowing, authorship, and how easily grassroots artistry is absorbed by mainstream platforms.
Still, the company’s tone remains gracious.
In a follow-up Instagram Story, they wrote: “The love we’ve been getting on this post is just phenomenal… your memories and cheeky lines warm our hearts.”
The message suggests that while they’re calling out Netflix, they’re also celebrating their community.
