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Pharrell Sends Cease-and-Desist to Trump for Playing “Happy” at a Rally Hours After The Synagogue Shooting in Pittsburgh
"There was nothing 'happy' about the tragedy inflicted upon our country on Saturday and no permission was granted for your use of this song for this purpose."
The same day 11 people were murdered in the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, Donald Trump played Pharrell Williams song "Happy" at a rally.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Pharrell's lawyer send a cease-and-desist letter to the president following his tone-deaf move to play the Despicable Me 2 song at his rally in Murphysboro, Illinois.
"On the day of the mass murder of 11 human beings at the hands of a deranged 'nationalist,' you played his song 'Happy' to a crowd at a political event in Indiana," Williams' attorney Howard E. King wrote in the letter. "There was nothing 'happy' about the tragedy inflicted upon our country on Saturday and no permission was granted for your use of this song for this purpose."
\u201cWOWZA. Check out this cease and desist sent by Pharrell Williams to Donald Trump for using \u201cHappy\u201d on \u201cthe day of the mass murder of 11 human beings,\u201d as the letter puts it.\u201d— Eriq Gardner (@Eriq Gardner) 1540857204
The shooting took place earlier Saturday at the Tree of Life synagogue, where a bris was occurring for a gay couple's twins. Eleven individuals died, including a 97 year-old Holocaust survivor, and a prominent Pittsburgh HIV specialist.
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