Topline
Radiohead is demanding the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take down a social media video that uses one of its songs, saying it was used without the band’s permission.
Radiohead is telling the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take down a video that uses one of its songs.
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Key Facts
In a statement to multiple entertainment outlets, including Variety and Consequence of Sound, a Radiohead spokesperson referenced “the amateurs in control of the ICE social media account” as it called for the video to be removed, adding: “It ain’t funny, this song means a lot to us and other people, and you don’t get to appropriate it without a fight. Also, go f*** yourselves… Radiohead.”
A version of its song “Let Down” was used in a Feb. 18 video by ICE, which highlighted “criminal illegal alien violence” that the federal agency says has torn apart thousands of American families.
The video shows dozens of photos of Americans, accompanied by Radiohead lyrics from its iconic “OK Computer” album: “You know where you are with/ You know where you are with/ Floor collapses, floating/ Bouncing back/ And one day I am gonna grow wings/ A chemical reaction/ Hysterical and useless.”
Tangent
Earlier this year, Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood asked for a segment of his music to be removed from First Lady Melania Trump’s controversial documentary “Melania.” Greenwood said he does not own the copyright to the score but said Universal did not consult with him for the song’s third-party use, according to NBC News. “Melania” producer Mark Beckman, in an interview with Breitbart, slammed the request, saying the documentary team had “legally binding, fully executed contracts” on each song used in the film.
Key Background
Radiohead joins a long list of musicians and bands that have spoken out against ICE using their songs in their social media videos. When ICE used the Olivia Rodrigo song “All-American Bitch” in a November social media post, Rodrigo responded in a later-deleted comment: “Don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda.” Sabrina Carpenter called an ICE video “evil and disgusting” when it featured a snippet of her song “Juno,” and the White House deleted the video. SZA said the White House was “rage baiting artists” after it included her song “Big Boys” in a December post related to immigration enforcement. Semisonic said it did not authorize the White House using its song “Closing Time” in a video about immigration, saying the Trump administration missed the message of the song. In response, White House Press Secretary Katherine Leavitt said messaging in the song “sums up our immigration policy pretty well: ‘You don’t have to go home. But you can’t stay here.’”