Donald Trump did not receive permission to use the song “Freedom” from Beyoncé‘s 2016 album Lemonade in a 13-second video, Rolling Stone reported on Wednesday, Aug. 21.
After Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for the former president, shared a video on his X account of Trump walking off a plane on Tuesday, Aug. 20, set to the Grammy-nominated song—with the caption, “Touchdown in Michigan!!”—the “Say My Name” singer sent a cease-and-desist letter.
The use of the song, which also features Kendrick Lamar, quickly drew attention online, especially since Democratic nominee Kamala Harris—with Beyoncé’s permission—has used it at several campaign events. Her supporters have even been pictured wearing cowboy hats and “Cowboy Kamala” sashes, referencing Beyoncé’s 2024 album Cowboy Carter.
Additionally, the Harris-Walz campaign debuted a new ad soundtracked by “Freedom,” with actor Jeffrey Wright narrating, “What kind of America do we want? One where we’re divided, angry, depressed? C’mon! We’re Americans! Fascism? We conquered it. The moon? Landed on it. The future? Building it. Freedom? Nobody loves it more.”
As of today, Aug. 22, Trump’s campaign has quietly deleted the video.
Although Beyoncé has not officially endorsed Harris, the Vice President and her husband Doug Emhoff were gifted tickets to the Renaissance World Tour in Maryland by the artist herself last year.
Throughout his political career, the Apprentice star hasn’t exactly had artists lining up to lend their music to his campaign. In fact, several have issued warnings of varying levels of severity over the years for using their tracks without permission.
Earlier this month, the Trump campaign was called out by Céline Dion for using her 1997 hit song “My Heart Will Go On” at a campaign rally in Montana.
And just last week, the estate of the late singer-songwriter Isaac Hayes sued the Republican presidential nominee and his campaign for the alleged unauthorized use of the song “Hold On, I’m Coming” in campaign videos. Lawyers for the Hayes family argue that Trump owes the estate $150,000 for each alleged unauthorized use of the song, which the Trump campaign has reportedly used over 100 times.
The family of the late Tom Petty also condemned the use of the musician’s song during Trump’s 2020 campaign.
Since 2016, the Rolling Stones have issued multiple statements calling for Trump to “cease all use” of their music. However, Trump continued using the band’s song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” despite their objections.
