Meg White and Jack White have reunited to sue presidential candidate Donald Trump for his use of The White Stripes‘ hit song ‘Seven Nation Army’.
In late August, Margo Martin, Trump’s deputy director of communications, shared a video of the businessman boarding a plane, accompanied by the 2003 track. Jack White quickly took to Instagram to share his thoughts. “Don’t even think about using my music you fascists,” he wrote at the time, “Law suit coming from my lawyers about this (to add to your 5 thousand others).”
Now, amidst the touring and promotion of his new solo album, No Name, White has followed through on this promise. The former White Stripes guitarist posted a copy of the lawsuit to his Instagram. The document lists both Jack and Meg White as individuals and collectively as The White Stripes, while Trump, his presidential campaign, and Margo Martin are listed as the defendants.
The introduction to the lawsuit states that it will seek “redress for a presidential candidate’s flagrant misappropriation of the musical composition and sound recording,” referring to ‘Seven Nation Army’. “This machine sues fascists,” White wrote in the caption.
The lawsuit emphasises that The White Stripes “vehemently oppose the policies adopted and actions taken by defendant Trump when he was president and those he has proposed for the second term he seeks.”
The White Stripes aren’t the only band to have spoken out and taken action against Trump’s use of their music. A number of artists, from ABBA to Foo Fighters, have shared their disapproval of Trump’s use of their music in his rallies. Sinéad O’Connor’s estate asked Trump to stop using her music at rallies earlier this year, while Isaac Hayes’ estate recently filed a lawsuit that bans the presidential candidate from using his music.
The lawsuit followed Trump’s use of ‘Hold On, I’m Comin’, which Hayes wrote in collaboration with David Porter. The former president had frequented the track as his exit music from rallies, but he is now blocked from using it at future appearances.
“We are very grateful and happy for the decision by Judge Thrash … I couldn’t ask for a better decision,” Isaac Hayes III shared, “I want this to serve as an opportunity for other artists to come forward that don’t want their music used by Donald Trump or other political entities.”