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Stephen Maturen / Stringer via Getty Images and Kevin Mazur / Contributor via Getty Images
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Donald Trump and Beyoncé
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On Wednesday (Aug. 21) night, Donald Trump‘s campaign team quietly deleted a Twitter video after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from Beyoncé’s legal team.
In the clip, the former U.S. president was seen walking off a plane in Michigan with “Freedom” playing in the background. As many had already suspected, the song was used without getting a green light from the pop star. A representative close to her confirmed to Rolling Stone that “the Trump campaign did not receive permission.”
The video’s removal is just the latest legal snag for Trump’s campaign, which has been hit with several lawsuits by artists for using their songs without permission. Earlier in the month, the family of the late Isaac Hayes took legal action due to him blasting “Hold On I’m Comin’” at rallies.
“Donald Trump epitomizes a lack of integrity and class, not only through his continuous use of my father’s music without permission but also through his history of sexual abuse against women and his racist rhetoric,” the composer’s son, Isaac Hayes III, wrote in a statement. “This behavior will no longer be tolerated, and we will take swift action to put an end to it.”
It’s also worth mentioning that Don Toliver’s fans took issue with “ATTITUDE” being used on Trump’s TikTok account. The soundbite was eventually removed, though the Houston rapper himself has stayed quiet on the matter.
Unlike Trump, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris did gain Beyoncé’s nod of approval to use “Freedom.” She walked out to the track during her first campaign headquarters entrance in July. Since then, it’s also appeared in several other advertisements for her presidential run.
While Beyoncé backed Hillary Clinton in 2016, she hasn’t officially thrown her support behind Harris or anyone else in the upcoming election. That said, she gifted the current vice president and her husband, Doug Emhoff, tickets to the “RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR” Maryland stop in 2023.