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ABBA calls out Trump for “unauthorized use” of their music at rallies; campaign says it has permission
Swedish supergroup ABBA has asked Donald Trump to stop using their music at campaign rallies, but the Republican presidential nominee’s campaign says it has permission.
“ABBA has recently discovered the unauthorized use of their music and videos at a Trump event through videos that appeared online,” said a statement to The Associated Press from the band, whose hits include “Waterloo,” “The Winner Takes It All” and “Money, Money, Money.”
“As a result, ABBA and its representative has promptly requested the removal and deletion of such content. No request has been received; therefore, no permission or license has been granted.”
A spokesman for the Trump campaign said it had obtained a license. “The campaign had a license to play ABBA music through our agreement with BMI and ASCAP,” the spokesperson told the AP.
ABBA joins a long list of performers who’ve objected to Trump using their songs. Ahead of the 2020 election, that included Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna, Phil Collins, Pharrell, John Fogerty, Neil Young, Eddy Grant, Panic! at the Disco, R.E.M. and Guns N’ Roses. In 2016, Adele asked Trump to quit playing her songs at political rallies.
This cycle, Celine Dion has asked the candidate to stop using “My Heart Will Go On” after the Trump team played a video clip of the artist singing the hit song from “Titanic” at a rally in Bozeman, Montana and several other campaign events. At the time, representatives said that in “no way is this use authorized, and Celine Dion does not endorse this or any similar use.”
Earler this month, Beyoncé blocked Trump from using her song “Freedom” after his campaign spokesman Steven Cheung posted a video of the former president exiting a plane set to the singer-songwriter’s hit song from her “Lemonade” album.
“Freedom” became the official song for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign after appearing in her campaign launch video on July 25. In the weeks following, sales and streams of the song have ballooned, according to Billboard.
Last week, the Trump campaign played the The Foo Fighters song “My Hero” while welcoming former independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the stage at a rally in Arizona. A spokesperson for the band told CBS News: “Foo Fighters were not asked permission and if they were, they would have not granted it.”
Campaigns don’t need an artist’s express permission to play their songs at rallies as long as the political organization or the venue has gotten what’s known as a blanket license from the performing rights organizations ASCAP and BMI.
Swedish daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet said its reporter in July attended a Trump rally in Minnesota where “The Winner Takes it All” was played. Universal Music in Sweden said videos had surfaced of ABBA’s music being played at at least one Trump event.
ABBA, who have scored 20 songs in the Billboard Hot 100, mostly in the 1970s and 1980s, released a comeback album, “Voyage,” in 2021.
Tupperware and some of its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the once-iconic food container maker said in a statement late Tuesday.
The company has suffered from dwindling sales following a surprise surge during the COVID-19 pandemic, when legions of people stuck at home tried their hands at cooking, which increased demand for Tupperware’s colorful plastic containers with flexible airtight seals.
A post-pandemic rise in costs of raw materials and shipping, along with higher wages, also hurt Tupperware’s bottom line.
Last year, it warned of “substantial doubt” about its ability to keep operating in light of its poor financial position.
“Over the last several years, the Company’s financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment,” president and CEO Laurie Ann Goldman said in a statement announcing the bankruptcy filing.
“As a result, we explored numerous strategic options and determined this is the best path forward,” Goldman said.
The company said it would seek court approval for a sale process for the business to protect its brand and “further advance Tupperware’s transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company.”
The Orlando, Florida-based firm said it would also seek approval to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings and would continue to pay its employees and suppliers.
“We plan to continue serving our valued customers with the high-quality products they love and trust throughout this process,” Goldman said.
The firm’s shares were trading at $0.5099 Monday, well down from $2.55 in December last year.
Tupperware said it had implemented a strategic plan to modernize its operations and drive efficiencies to ignite growth following the appointment of a new management team last year.
“The Company has made significant progress and intends to continue this important transformation work.”
In its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Tupperware listed assets of between $500 million and $1 billion and liabilities of between $1 billion and $10 billion.
The filing also said it had between 50,000 and 100,000 creditors.
Tupperware lost popularity with consumers in recent years and an initiative to gain distribution through big-box chain Target failed to reverse its fortunes.
The company’s roots date to 1946, when chemist Earl Tupper “had a spark of inspiration while creating molds at a plastics factory shortly after the Great Depression,” according to Tupperware’s website.
“If he could design an airtight seal for plastic storage containers, like those on a paint can, he could help war-weary families save money on costly food waste.”
Over time, Tupper’s containers became popular that many people referred to any plastic food container as Tupperware. And people even threw “Tupperware parties” in their homes to sell the containers to friends and neighbors.
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