Legendary rapper and producer Dr. Dre criticized Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene as "hateful and divisive" after she used his classic song "Still D.R.E." in an online promotional video without his permission.
Greene's video shows her walking through the halls of Congress in slow-motion and appearing to text with former Republican President Donald Trump to secure votes for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, whose bid for the speakership was imperiled by a rebellion within the ranks of the GOP last week.
Greene posted her video to Twitter but it was removed for copyright infringement.
\u201cIt\u2019s time to begin.. and they can\u2019t stop what\u2019s coming.\u201d— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1673273414
You can see it below.
\u201cMarjorie Taylor Greene has been locked out of twitter for using a Dr. Dre song in a promo video without authorization. Dre said there was no effort to get his permission and stated \u201cI don\u2019t license my songs to politicians. Certainly not any as hateful or divisive as this one.\u201d\u201d— Andrew Wortman (@Andrew Wortman) 1673298064
Dr. Dre later told TMZ he doesn't "license [his] music to politicians, especially someone as divisive and hateful as this one" referring to Greene.
He also took legal action against her for violating his copyright and his lawyers wrote a letter to her in which they stated she is "wrongfully exploiting this work through the various social media outlets to promote your divisive and hateful political agenda."
You can see the letter below.
\u201cMarjorie Taylor Greene has been locked out of her Twitter account and her new video has been removed after Dr. Dre took legal action against her for using his music without permission. \n\nHis letter is amazing.\u201d— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen) 1673300395
The letter to Greene read, in part:
"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."
"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."
"The United States Copyright Act says a lot of things, but one of the things it says is that you can't use someone else's song for your political campaign promotions unless you get permission from the owner of the copyright in the song, a step you failed to take."
Many praised Dr. Dre and his legal team for speaking out.
\u201cThis letter should be taught in law school. It's perfect.\u201d— MarieLikes (@MarieLikes) 1673317227
\u201cSo much respect for the professional shade @drdre & his lawyers just threw \ud83d\ude02\ud83c\udfc5\u201d— Caroline Draper (@Caroline Draper) 1673304428
\u201cI can't wait until the #RepublicanHouseClownShow repeals the copyright law and tries to gets everybody's music moved to the public domain. That'll show Dr. Dre for getting Marjorie Taylor Greene's House Twitter account locked. \ud83d\ude02\ud83e\udd2a\ud83d\ude00\ud83d\ude04\ud83d\ude02\n#RepublicansInDisarray\u201d— April is not an incubator (@April is not an incubator) 1673306271
\u201cSeems they just can\u2019t stop breaking the law. It\u2019s a good letter.\u201d— Goldie (@Goldie) 1673304284
\u201cSeriously, this letter goes so hard. Again: I heart lawyers.\u201d— Clare (@Clare) 1673306409
\u201cKiller letter -- don't mess with Dre.\u201d— Laurie Garrett (@Laurie Garrett) 1673303929
\u201cI don't know which medical schools @drdre attended but he must be a FAKE doctor. No real doctor would have given @RepMTG so many first degree burns! Shameful!!\u201d— Elon Trump (very real, not parody) (@Elon Trump (very real, not parody)) 1673304239
The letter to Greene is only the latest example of Republicans openly violating copyright to court their base.
In November 2022, filmmaker Duncan Jones—the son of the late rocker David Bowie—said he thinks Trump is playing his father's music during campaign events "to wind me up, pointing to Trump's decision to use Bowie's song "Heroes" during his recent 2024 presidential campaign announcement.
In 2020, Trump was called out by the estate of the late rocker Tom Petty for using the song "I Won't Back Down" to promote his second presidential campaign.
At the time, Petty's estate said Petty—who made no secret of his progressive politics when he was alive—would have disapproved of Trump's use of the song, saying Trump "was in no way authorized" to use it "to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense behind."
