Famous popstars Rihanna and Pharrell Williams have are not happy with their music being played at Trump rallies and have reportedly told their people to ban the organisers of rallies involving US President Donald Trump from doing so.
Rally organisers felt Barbadian singer Rihanna’s wrath over the weekend, after the Washington Post’s Philip Rucker wrote on social media:
“It’s been said a million times, but here’s a million and one — Trump’s rallies are unlike anything else in politics. Currently, Rihanna’s ‘Don’t Stop the Music’ is blaring in Chattanooga as aides toss free Trump T-shirts into the crowd, like a ball game. Everyone’s loving it.”
Rihanna quickly shared her bemusement in a scathing tweet, in which she called Trump rallies “tragic”. She wrote: “Not for much longer. Me nor my people would ever be at or around one of those tragic rallies, so thanks for the heads up philip!”
Rihanna’s decision comes a week after musician Pharrell Williams reportedly sent Trump a cease and desist letter for playing his song, “Happy,” at rallies. According to Sky News, “lawyers for the singer issued Mr Trump a cease and desist letter after he played the song at a political event in Indiana ‘on the day of the mass murder of 11 human beings at the hands of a deranged ‘nationalist.'”
The letter is referring to the fact that a Jewish synagogue was targeted in what analysts have called the worst anti-Semitic attack in the history of the US, on the same day a Future Farmers of America rally in Indiana played the “Happy” song at their event.
According to Sky News, the letter continued that “there was nothing ‘happy’ about the tragedy inflicted upon our country on Saturday and no permission was granted for you use of this song for this purpose,” before it “warned that use of the song constituted a copyright infringement and Pharrell’s trademark rights.”
Rihanna and Pharrell join the likes of other celebrities like Adele and Axl Rose who have asked Trump to stop playing their music at his rallies.
According to Indy100, “In 2016, Adele had previously requested the president stop playing ‘Rolling in the Deep’ at his campaign rallies. Axl Rose also recently requested that Trump stop playing his iconic hit ‘Sweet Child of Mine.'”
