Pharrell Williams sends Donald Trump cease-and-desist letter over “Happy”

The singer doesn't want POTUS using his music.

Oct 30, 2018

 

Pharrell Williams is anything but happy about Donald Trump using his music.

According to TheWrap, the artist’s attorney sent POTUS a cease-and-desist letter over his use of Williams’ hit song “Happy” on Monday after learning Trump played it at a rally on the same day of the mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue that left 11 people dead.

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“On the day of the mass murder of 11 human beings at the hands of a deranged ‘nationalist,’ you played (Williams’) song ‘Happy’ to a crowd at a political event in Indiana,” the letter, signed by Williams’ attorney, Howard King, said. “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 letter continued to explain that as the owner of “Happy,” Pharrell “has not, and will not, grant you permission to publicly perform or otherwise broadcast or disseminate any of his music. The use of ‘Happy’ without permission constitutes copyright infringement.”

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Williams’ attorney made it clear that his client has no intentions of granting Trump permission to use his music.
“Demand is hereby made that you cease and desist from any further unauthorized use of Pharrell Williams’ music,” the letter concluded.

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This isn’t the first time Trump has used music without permission and several other artists, including Adele and The Rolling Stones have spoken out against him using their songs.
It’ a little ironic that the song was featured in Despicable Me 2 because that movie title is pretty fitting for our current commander in chief. Still, he has no right to use the beloved track at his events.

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