The former president did not receive permission to use the Lemonade song in 13-second video posted by Trump’s spokesperson, Rolling Stone has learned

Beyoncé has threatened to send a cease-and-desist to the Trump campaign after the former president posted a clip of her “Freedom” — Kamala Harris’ unofficial campaign song — in a video posted on social media, Rolling Stone has learned.

A source close to Beyoncé tells Rolling Stone that the Trump campaign did not receive permission to use the Lemonade track in the 13-second video of Trump getting off a plane in Michigan that Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung posted Tuesday.

As of press time Wednesday, the video was still up on Cheung’s X account despite her label issuing the cease-and-desist.

On Monday, the Harris-Walz campaign debuted a new ad soundtracked by “Freedom,” with actor Jeffrey Wright providing the narration, “What kind of America do we want?” he asks. “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.”

Harris has been using “Freedom” — with Beyoncé’s permission — since her presidential campaign began earlier this summer (following Joe Biden’s decision not to seek reelection). At her first public appearance after securing Biden’s endorsement, Harris walked out to the podium while “Freedom” played. And not long after, her campaign dropped an official launch video featuring the song.

Trump, meanwhile, is notorious for using music at his campaign rallies without the artists’ permission, with the former president receiving pushback and legal threats from dozens of musicians over the unauthorized usage of their songs.

Beyoncé has blocked Donald Trump from using her song Freedom, after the track – the central song for the Kamala Harris campaign – was used for a Trump campaign video on social media.

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung posted the video showing Trump walking off a plane, backed by Freedom. Rolling Stone and Billboard reported that Beyoncé’s record label and publisher moved to block the use, and Cheung’s video has now been deleted from social media.

Beyoncé has not commented on the incident. She is rumoured to be performing at the Democratic national convention (DNC) on Thursday, but representatives for the singer and the Harris campaign have not commented. When asked about it on Wednesday, DNC chair Jamie Harrison did not confirm or deny an appearance, saying: “Every day, she’s in here singing Freedom – at least we hear it across the intercom.”

The Harris-Walz team has made Freedom a core part of its campaign, unveiling a new a cappella version in a campaign ad at the DNC, which also features a speech from Oscar-nominated actor Jeffrey Wright. Harris has also used the song at other campaigning events, and her supporters have been pictured wearing cowboy hats and “Cowboy Kamala” sashes, referencing Beyoncé’s 2024 album Cowboy Carter.

Freedom, included on Beyoncé’s 2016 album Lemonade, has lyrics that do not chime well with the Trump campaign, but are a natural fit for Harris’s. “I’ma walk, I’ma march on the regular / Painting white flags blue”, Beyoncé sings – a reference to her daughter Blue Ivy which could double up as a Democrat campaign slogan.

Tim Walz meanwhile left the stage at the DNC to the sound of Rockin’ in the Free World, Neil Young’s savagely ironic 1989 track that painted a US riven by homelessness and drug addiction. A campaign official told CNN that Young had personally approved the use of the song, a favourite of Walz’s.

The use is perhaps a semi-veiled dig at Donald Trump, who frequently used the song himself at rallies between 2015 and 2020. Young vociferously opposed the use on numerous occasions, including in an open letter to Trump in 2020 that read: “Every time […] one of my songs is played at one of your rallies, I hope you hear my voice. Remember it is the voice of a tax-paying US citizen who does not support you. Me.”

Young filed a lawsuit against Trump later that year, with documents stating Young “cannot allow his music to be used as a ‘theme song’ for a divisive, un-American campaign of ignorance and hate”. Young later voluntarily dismissed the case.

Numerous other musicians, from Adele to the Rolling Stones, have opposed Trump’s use of their music. Earlier this month they were joined by the family of the late Isaac Hayes, who filed a lawsuit alleging that Trump “wilfully and brazenly engaged in copyright infringement” by using the Hayes-penned Sam and Dave hit Hold on, I’m Comin’.

You may want to avoid the Beyhive today, as it is buzzing and ready to sting.

There was heightened excitement among many heading into the final night of the Democratic National Convention, not just because Vice President Kamala Harris was set to accept the party’s nomination, but because of hope the woman behind her campaign anthem would “rain on the thunder” and “wave through the waters” of Chicago’s United Center.

Like most pop culture fantasies, speculation that Beyoncé would make an appearance at the DNC started – and ended – on social media.

From the moment CNN reported in July that Beyoncé had granted the vice president permission to use her 2016 song “Freedom” for her presidential campaign, there were questions.

Would Queen Bey make a formal endorsement? Might a concert in support of Harris happen? And even more mind blowing, could Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, two of the biggest artists on the planet, join together in support of Harris in Chi-town?

Some people swore they saw signs pointing to an inevitable Beyoncé arrival at the convention – her private plane was rumored to have landed at O’Hare, the house band was practicing Beyoncé songs, there were “Cowboy Kamala” sashes in the Washington delegation. Surely, she would come.

Shasti Conrad, the Washington Democratic Party’s chair, told the Washington State Standard that she is a fan of both the singer and the vice president – a Beyhive and “KHive” member.

“The Beyhive is sort of what the KHive built themselves after — sort of this rabid fanbase for both,” Conrad said. “So we were like, let’s celebrate the two of them and this cultural moment, political moment — and these incredible women of color.”

Delegates and attendees wear cowboy hats and “Cowboy Kamala” banners on the first day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 19.

Eva Hambach/AFP/Getty Images

A bee emoji shared on X by White House political director Emily Ruiz further spiked the hype.

And in fairness to the fans, there was a concert vibe running through the star-studded DNC all week. After Oprah Winfrey made a surprise appearance on Wednesday night, a post by the X account “Angry Staffer” promised a more momentous moment on Thursday.

“I’ve been sworn to secrecy, but you don’t want to miss the DNC tonight,” the since-deleted post read. “If you thought the Oprah surprise was big, just wait.”

On Thursday evening, TMZ reported that Beyoncé would indeed be performing. Media outlets, including CNN, reached out to representatives to confirm, while social media held its collective breath.

After all, Beyoncé has appeared at numerous Democratic events in the past, including President Barack Obama’s presidential Inaugural Ball in 2008, Obama’s second presidential Inauguration in 2013, and a pre-election concert in Ohio for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Beyoncé also endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket in 2020.

Then the fever dream ended and the pop culture balloon popped.

The Hollywood Reporter was the first to have the news that the Grammy-winning singer would not be appearing at the DNC.

“She was never scheduled to be in Chicago,” Beyoncé’s representative Yvette Noel-Schure told CNN in a statement.

TMZ issued a mea culpa with “Texas Hold ‘Em” song lyrics to walk back its report.

“To quote the great Beyoncé: We gotta lay our cards down, down, down … we got this one wrong,” an update on the original story reads.

The X account that appeared to have gotten the initial ball rolling, Angry Staffer, also offered up an apology on the site, writing “Re: special guest rumor – I’m not sure where it started, but the people who told me aren’t prone to hyperbole.”

The internet, however, is.

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