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Pharrell Williams blasts Donald Trump and disallows him from playing 'Happy' at rallies

Junie Sihlangu
Oct 30, 2018
02:24 P.M.

On Monday, President Donald Trump received a cease and desist letter. The letter was from Pharrell Williams' attorney Howard King.

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It barred the president from playing the singer’s song, “Happy.” Trump recently had the song playing on Saturday at a rally.

Musician Pharrell Williams, 45, sent a cease-and-desist letter through his lawyer, Howard King, to President Donald Trump after he played the 2014 hit "Happy" at a political event in Indianapolis.

The song was played at a rally just hours after 11 people were gunned down in at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.

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For more on this story go to our Twitter account @amomama_usa. In the letter, Williams stated:

"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.”

The letter further noted:

"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."

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The attorney also noted that the use of the song without consent constituted copyright and trademark infringement by the president. The letter said:

"Pharrell has not, and will not, grant you permission to publicly perform or otherwise broadcast or disseminate any of his music.”

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This wasn’t the first time that Trump has been barred from using artist’s songs at his political events. In August, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler sent him a cease-and-desist letter after the president played the band's hit song “Livin’ on the Edge.”

The song was played at a rally in Charleston, West Virginia. At the time, Tyler's legal team wrote:

“Mr. Trump is creating the false impression that our client has given his consent for the use of his music, and even that he endorses the presidency of Mr. Trump.”

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Other artists who’ve asked the president to stop playing their music are R.E.M., Prince's estate, Queen, The Rolling Stones, The O'Jays, Adele, Neil Young, and Tom Petty.

Williams is a Virginia beach-born artist who’s juggled a number of roles. He is one half of production duo The Neptunes, one third of the band N*E*R*D, and a solo artist.

In his music, he mixes rap, rock, and R&B to name a few genres.

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