Soul singer Isaac Hayes’ family has filed a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump for playing his music at rallies. The suit is seeking $3 million for unauthorized use of the song “Hold On, I’m Comin’,” which it states Trump played at 134 events, most recently at a rally in Montana. Mr. Hayes wrote the song, performed by Sam & Dave, in 1966, and his family owns the rights.
The lawsuit states that Trump or his staff authorized the “illegal” broadcast of the song “on multiple occasions.” It further claims that the Hayes estate has “repeatedly” asked Trump not to use the song at his rallies, but these requests have gone unnoticed. Additionally, the suit demands an apology and the removal of all videos featuring the music from the internet.
The lawsuit was filed just days after representatives for Canadian icon Celine Dion publicly rebuked Trump for using “My Heart Will Go On” at his Montana event. The Dion spokesperson appeared to mock the former President, saying, “And really, THAT song?” The hit was the central theme of the 1997 movie Titanic, and some Democrats joined in the mockery, saying it was an appropriate choice for a sinking campaign.
Social media users pointed out that Trump’s team played the Celine Dion hit just as Vice President Kamala Harris stormed ahead in national and battleground state polls. “This is so on the nose to what’s happening with his campaign, the cognitive dissonance is astounding,” one person tweeted.
Meanwhile, the FBI has opened an investigation into Mr. Trump’s claims that Iranian operatives hacked his internal digital communications. The former President said Microsoft informed him that Iranian agents had accessed his websites but were “only able to get publicly available information.”
The federal agency is also looking into hacking aimed at President Biden and Vice President Harris. Investigations were opened in June when the feds noted that Iran had previously tried to steal data from two US Presidential campaigns, and Microsoft confirmed that a similar attempt was made in June.
Iran denies any involvement and said it made no attempts to infiltrate Mr. Trump’s communications.
