Eminem has sent US presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy a cease and desist letter demanding him to stop using his music at his campaign rallies.
The 38-year-old investor rapped to the hip-hop superstar’s 2002 hit ‘Lose Yourself’ at the Iowa State Fair Grounds earlier this month, and the rapper is not happy about it.
Eminem, 50, got music licenser Broadcast Music Inc (BMI) to issue the letter to Republican Ramaswamy on August 23, requesting he never perform or play his songs again to promote his bid to become president in 2024.
The document obtained by the Daily Mail read: “BMI will consider any performance of the Eminem Works by the Vivek 2024 campaign from this date forward to be a material breach of the Agreement for which BMI reserves all rights and remedies with respect thereto.”
A spokesperson for the political candidate reacted: “Vivek just got on the stage and cut loose. To the American people’s chagrin, we will have to leave the rapping to the real Slim Shady.”
It’s not uncommon for musicians to issue such warnings to those gunning to be in power at The White House.
Recently, Donald Trump received a legal letter from the Village People.
The 77-year-old former president was handed a cease and desist by Karen Willis, the wife of lead singer Victor Willis, after Trump hired impersonators to perform the band’s iconic songs at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Karen wrote: “We have been inundated with social media posts about the imitation performance where many fans, and the general public as well, mistakenly believe to be that of the actual Village People.
“Therefore the performance has, and continues to cause public confusion as to why Village People would engage in such a performance. We did not.”
Karen explained that the group doesn’t wish to endorse Trump’s presidential campaign.
She said: “Though my husband has publicly tolerated your client’s use of his Village People music, we cannot allow such use by him to cause public confusion as to an endorsement.
“Therefore it is requested that he cease and desist any such further unauthorised use of the Village People image in association with the songs and his campaign (or in his personal capacity).”
However, Joe Tacopina – Trump’s attorney – already dismissed the letter.
He told TMZ: “I will only deal with the attorney of the Village People, if they have one, not the wife of one of the members. But they should be thankful that President Trump allowed them to get their name back in the press. I haven’t heard their name in decades. Glad to hear they are still around.”