Village People singer threatens to sue Trump to stop performances of ‘Y.M.C.A.,’ ‘Macho Man,’ and other hits
The lead singer of the Village Individuals music group issued a stop and desist letter to former President Donald Trump to cease all performances of “Y.M.C.A.” and “Macho Man,” amongst others of the group’s hits.
“Although my husband has tolerated your consumer’s use of his Village Individuals music, we can not enable such use by him to trigger public confusion as to endorsement,” wrote Karen Willis, the spouse of Victor Willis and supervisor of the music group.
The letter cited a video that was posted to social media displaying the previous president dancing to the efficiency of “Macho Man” by dancers dressed up just like the well-known Village Individuals group.
“Subsequently, it’s requested that he stop and desist any such additional unauthorized use of the Village Individuals picture in affiliation with the songs and his marketing campaign (or in his private capability),” the letter continued.
Willis went on to say that they might be pressured to file a lawsuit in an effort to cease Trump from unauthorized use of their songs.
She added, “Such mixed-use causes public confusion and is suggestive of endorsement.”
Trump has used the music of the Village Individuals typically throughout his presidential campaigns and through rallies.
Different artists have issued comparable requests and authorized threats toward the Trump marketing campaign. In 2020, Twitter took down a Trump marketing campaign video after it used a tune from Linkin Park without authorization.
“Linkin Park didn’t and doesn’t endorse Trump, nor authorize his group to make use of any of our music,” the official Twitter account for Linkin Park wrote at the time. “A stop and desist has been issued.”
This is a video of Trump dancing to Village Individuals at a rally:
Trump ends his rally by dancing to YMCAwww.youtube.com
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