After playing the Tom Petty classic "I Won't Back Down" at a rally in Tulsa on Saturday night, the Trump campaign received a cease and desist notice from the Petty family, saying the late singer-songwriter "would never want a song of his used for a campaign of hate. He liked to bring people together."
Petty's daughters, Adria and Annakim, his widow Dana, and his first wife Jane issued a statement via social media, saying that Trump was "in no way authorized to use this song to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense behind. Both the late Tom Petty and his family firmly stand against racism and discrimination of any kind."
"I Won't Back Down" was written "for the underdog, for the common man, and for EVERYONE," the statement reads, and while the Petty family believes "everyone is free to vote as they like," they "would hate for fans that are marginalized by this administration to think we were complicit in this usage."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Several artists have sent the Trump campaign cease and desist notices for playing their music at events, including Neil Young and R.E.M. Oftentimes, a campaign can get around this if a singer or group signed a blanket licensing agreement that gives venues permission to play their music, CBS News notes. However, the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) said legal action could be taken on the idea of false endorsement, where usage "implies that the artist supports a product or candidate."
-
5 torch-carrying cartoons about Lady Liberty’s rough weekCartoons Artists take on dark nights, Lady Lineup, and more
-
Could Democrats lose the New Jersey governor’s race?Today’s Big Question Democrat Mikie Sherrill stumbles against Republican Jack Ciattarelli
-
‘Porsche’s luxury credentials are now hanging by a thread’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
