Grammy Award-winner Pharrell Williams has threatened to sue President Trump for the use of his hit song “Happy” at a campaign rally just hours after the mass shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, reports CNN. Williams’s attorney sent a cease and desist letter to Trump on Monday. In it, his attorney wrote:
“On the day of the mass murder of 11 human beings at the hands of a deranged ‘nationalist,’ you played his song ‘Happy’ to a crowd at a political event in Indiana. 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 goes on to state that the unauthorized use of “Happy” constituted trademark and copyright violations and that “Pharrell has not, and will not, grant you permission to publicly perform or otherwise broadcast or disseminate any of his music.”
With this letter, Williams joins a long list of artists who have told Trump not to use their songs at campaign rallies, including Queen, the Rolling Stones, the O’Jays, and Adele.
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