Imagine what it must be like to be hated by your favorite artists. If you’re a member of today’s Republican party, you don’t have to imagine. Ted Cruz is famously despised by Cary Elwes, the star of his favorite movie, The Princess Bride. Musicians are constantly telling Donald Trump to stop playing their songs at his rallies. Now a first-time GOP candidate joined their ranks.
As per The Daily Mail, Eminem has asked copyright licenser BMI to send a cease and desist to Vivek Ramaswamy, the businessman and pharma bro who’s joined the dozen or so Republicans trying to wrestle the party away from Donald Trump (or at least get a cushy job in his potential second administration).
In a letter to Ramaswamy’s team dated Aug. 23, a BMI representative says they “eceived communications from Marshall B. Mathers, III, professionally known as Eminem, objecting to the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign’s use of Eminem’s musical compositions (the ‘Eminem Works’) and requesting that BMI remove all Eminem Works from the Agreement.”
The letter added that “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.”
Ramaswamy doesn’t play Eminem’s music at his campaign rallies; he raps them. Earlier this month he was caught butchering “Lose Yourself” in front of a crowd who probably counts few rap fans to begin with.
There’s an upside to this: If Ramaswamy is getting shade from an artist he loves, that means he’s officially made it in the GOP. Congrats? On the other hand, it means “My Name Is” will never sound the same to him again.
(Via The Daily Mail)