Pharrell Williams has threatened to sue President Donald Trump for using his song Happy without permission.
The hit track was played at a rally held by Trump on Saturday just hours after a gunman killed 11 people at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.
According to The Washington Post, in a letter to Trump, Williams’ lawyer Howard King, wrote “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.”
Adding “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
The cease-and-desist letter continued, ” Pharrell Williams is the owner of the copyright in ‘Happy,’ with the exclusive right to exploit same. Pharrell has not, and will not, grant you permission to publicly perform or otherwise broadcast or disseminate any of his music.” The Washington Post reported Sunday that “Happy” was played at the Indiana rally in support of Rep. Mike Bost.
Williams is the latest artist to threaten legal action against Trump if the president continued to play their music at his pre-midterm rallies: Earlier this month, Prince’s estate asked Trump to cease using “Purple Rain” at rallies, while Steven Tyler issued a cease-and-desist letter in August after Trump’s rallies broadcasted Aerosmith’s “Livin’ on the Edge
Source: People
