Artist Behind Linkin Park Cover Used in Donald Trump Ad Lashes Out: 'I Am Absolutely Disgusted'

Musical artist Jung Youth has responded to the Trump campaign's use of his song on a recent ad. [...]

By Michael Hein

Musical artist Jung Youth has responded to the Trump campaign's use of his song on a recent ad. Jung Youth collaborated with Fleurie and Tommee Profitt on a cover of Linkin Park's "In The End" back in 2018, and this week the Trump campaign used it for a commercial without permission. Jung Youth joined the fans calling out this overstep on Twitter on Saturday.

"Never thought I would have to tell the president not to play my music but HEY BUDDY U DIDNT LICENSE THIS AND I WOULD NEVER APPROVE IT," Jung Youth tweeted in response to a fan. Unacceptable." He continued to respond to other fans as they pointed out the Trump ad to him. When one fan wrote that they doubted Jung Youth had approved the ad, he replied: "You are absolutely correct. Def would never approve this. Already let my lawyer know as well." In response to another, he wrote: "I am absolutely disgusted to see music I worked on be used in this way without my approval. F— that!!"

Jung Youth posted a tweet of his own later in the night as the backlash was mounting. He wrote: "Earlier today I found out that trump illegally used a cover song that I am part of in a propaganda video which he tweeted... anyone who knows me knows I stand firmly against bigotry and racism. Much love to everyone in the twitter community who helped get the video taken down fr!!"

At the time of this writing, the video has been taken down on the president's Twitter feed and on those of many of his staffers as well. According to a report by Rolling Stone, Linkin Park themselves issued a cease and desist letter, threatening to take further legal action against Trump and his campaign if the video continued to circulate.

"Linkin Park did not and does not endorse Trump, nor authorize his organization to use any of our music," the band's official Twitter account wrote on Saturday night. "A cease and desist order has been issued."

Many fans also dug up an old tweet by late Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington, who was a vocal opponent of the president's politics. he wrote: "Donald Trump is a greater threat to the United States than terrorism."

Twitter issued a statement to The Guardian, claiming that it had seriously pursued the copyright complaints against the Trump campaign's tweets. The company said: "We respond to valid copyright complaints sent to us by a copyright owner or their authorized representatives."

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