Pharrell Williams has issued a cease and desist letter to Donald Trump, urging the President not to use his music at his future rallies.
The singer took particular issue with Trump for using the song ‘Happy’, taken from the ‘Despicable Me 2’ soundtrack, at an event on the same day as the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, which took the lives of 11 people over the weekend.
A letter from Pharrell’s lawyer Howard King reads: “On the day of the mass murder of 11 human beings at the hands of a deranged ‘nationalist’, you played his song Happy to a crowd at a political event in Indiana.
“There was nothing ‘happy’ about the tragedy inflicted upon our country on Saturday and no permission was granted for your use of this song for this purpose.”
During the same Future Farmers of America rally, Trump faced criticism for commenting that he almost cancelled the event due to a “bad hair day”, later referring to the shooting as an “evil anti-semitic attack” and an “assault on all of us”.
Earlier this month, Trump faced similar calls from the family of Prince, who were upset that he had played ‘Purple Rain’ at a rally, requesting that he “cease all use immediately”, with many other musicians having also voiced their disdain for their music being used at his political events.
Former R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe was also left fuming when he learned that ‘It’s The End Of The World As We Know It’ was being blasted at Trump ralles, issuing a statement telling the former businessman to “go fuck himself”, making it clear he did not support his political ideologies.
Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, meanwhile, sent Trump his own cease and desist letter earlier this year, when he became concerned that the President’s use of his music to rouse crowds at his rallies might make them believe that he supports or endorses what he stands for.