Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) shared her response to rapper Dr. Dre after he threatened her with legal action for using one of his songs.
TMZ reported Dre’s lawyer, Howard King, wrote in a letter to Greene, “You are wrongfully exploiting this work through various social media outlets to promote your hateful and divisive agenda.”
He added, “Mr. Young [Dre] has not, and will never, grant you permission to broadcast or disseminate any of his music.”
Continuing to tear into Greene, King wrote, “One might expect that, as a member of Congress, you would have a passing familiarity with the laws of our country. It’s possible, though, that laws governing intellectual property are a little too arcane and insufficiently populist for you to really have spent much time on.”
He went on, “We’re writing because we think an actual lawmaker should be making laws not breaking laws, especially those embodied in the constitution by the founding fathers.”
Toward the end of the letter, Howard demanded that Greene “cease and desist from any further unauthorized us of Andre Young’s music.”
Concluding the letter, the lawyer said, “Please provide me with written confirmation that you have complied with these demands before January 11, 2023 by 5:00 pm EST.”
Additionally, TMZ reported Greene was locked out of her Twitter account over the video using the song ”Still D.R.E.”
Greene shared her message with the rapper in a statement to TMZ.
“While I appreciate the creative chord progression, I would never play your words of violence against women and police officers, and your glorification of the thug life and drugs,” Greene said.
She posted a screenshot of the statement on Twitter with the caption, “The next episode..”
The next episode.. pic.twitter.com/o6g2WVxYBu
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) January 9, 2023
The next episode is also the title of a song by Dr. Dre.
He is not the only musician to take issue with a politician using their music.
In November, singer Tom Petty’s estate threatened to take legal action against Arizona Republican Kari Lake’s campaign after including one of his songs in a video, IJR previously reported.
The estate issued a statement at the time, saying, “The Tom Petty estate and our partners were shocked to find out that Tom’s song, ‘I Won’t Back Down’ was stolen and used without permission to promote Kari Lake’s failed campaign.”
It continues, “This is illegal. We are exploring all of our legal options to stop this unauthorized use and to prohibit future misappropriations of Tom’s beloved anthem.”
