Key Takeaways
- John Legend urged artists to sue the Trump administration over unauthorized music use in ads, declaring, "sue, sue, and sue!"
- Legend suggested the administration deliberately provokes artists for publicity, knowing it will eventually have to remove their music.
- His comments follow JMSN's cease-and-desist letter to the White House last month over its unauthorized use of "Love Me" in a Trump campaign ad.
John Legend has shared some advice for artists discovering their music is being used by the Trump Administration for ad campaigns without permission.
The singer-songwriter, whose new album Muse arrived last Friday (October 23), spoke with Complex about the ongoing copyright disputes that artists are having with the White House.
While the likes of Katy Perry, Kesha, and Ariana Grande have all had to deal with the issue in recent years, the most recent artist to go through it is JMSN. Last month, the Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter sent a cease-and-desist letter to the White House over its unauthorized use of his song "Love Me" in a campaign ad for Donald Trump.
When Legend, who has been a staunch critic of Donald Trump and his administration, was asked about what type of action artists like JMSN should take when their music is used without permission, he didn't hold back.
"Well, they should sue. Like, sue, sue, and sue!" he said, loudly stating his belief. "These fascists have no right to their songs, and every artist whose songs are used without their permission should sue the administration and make them fucking pay."
Legend said he doesn't think any of his music has been used by Donald Trump or the White House without permission, but he offered a theory on why he believes the current administration likes to do it.
"I think part of their strategy is to be provocative and fuck with the artist community," he surmised. "They know they're gonna have to take it down eventually, but they like the controversy of getting called out about it. But still, fucking sue them, make them pay."
