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Trump campaign’s use of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” is “blasphemy,” singer Rufus Wainwright says
On Monday, Donald Trump turned a town hall Q&A into a music-listening session, with the former president swaying on stage for more than 30 minutes to some of his favorite songs — including Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” as covered by the singer Rufus Wainwright in the film “Shrek.”
Now, Wainwright and Cohen’s estate are taking issue with Trump’s use of the song, with Wainwright writing on social media that “witnessing Trump and his supporters commune with this music last night was the height of blasphemy.”
The publishing company for Cohen’s estate has sent a cease and desist letter to the Trump campaign, Wainwright said. Cohen, who died in 2016 at the age of 82, originally released the song in 1984, with many musicians later covering it, including Wainwright and the late Jeff Buckley.
The Trump campaign and representatives for Wainwright and Cohen’s estate didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The spat over “Hallelujah” marks the latest tussle between musicians and the Trump campaign, which has repeatedly been asked to stop playing songs by artists ranging from Celine Dion to Queen. Some of the artists said they are opposed to their music accompanying any type of political event, while others, like Wainwright, have been more pointed in linking their music to Trump.
“The song ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen has become an anthem dedicated to peace, love and acceptance of the truth,” Wainwright wrote on Tuesday.
He added that he was “mortified” that the song was played at the Trump event, adding that “the good in me hopes that perhaps in inhabiting and really listening to the lyrics of Cohen’s masterpiece, Donald Trump just might experience a hint of remorse over what he’s caused.”
Wainwright added that he is supporting Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election.
Trump played several other recordings at the town hall event in Oaks, Pennsylvania, about 20 miles outside Philadelphia, after two attendees needed medical attention. Those songs included “It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World” by James Brown, “An American Trilogy” by Elvis Presley and “Nothing Compares 2 U,” by the late Sinead O’Connor.
Musicians who have objected to Trump using their music
Wainwright joins a long list of other musicians who have asked the Trump campaign to stop using their songs. Some of the recent cases include:
- Celine Dion, whose representatives in August told Trump that his use of her 1990s song “My Heart Will Go On” was “unauthorized” and had not received her permission.
- The Foo Fighters, who in August objected to Trump playing the band’s “My Hero” when he welcomed former independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the stage at an Arizona rally. The Foo Fighters said they hadn’t given permission for the use of the song, and that any royalties received as a result of the Trump campaign’s use of the song would be donated to Harris’ campaign.
- Isaac Hayes, with a federal judge in Atlanta ruling last month that Trump and his campaign must stop using the song “Hold On, I’m Coming” while the family of one of the song’s co-writers pursues a lawsuit against the former president over its use.
- The White Stripes, who in September sued Trump in a case that alleges he used their hit song “Seven Nation Army” without permission in a video posted to social media.
CBS News
Saudi Arabia jails cartoonist Mohammed al-Hazza for 23 years for insulting leadership, rights group says
Dubai — A Saudi artist has been sentenced to more than two decades in prison over political cartoons that allegedly insulted the Gulf kingdom’s leadership, his sister and a rights group said this week. The case against Mohammed al-Hazza, 48, adds to concerns about freedom of expression under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as Saudi Arabia — the world’s largest crude oil exporter — seeks to open up to tourists and investors after years of isolation.
The father of five was arrested in February 2018 in Saudi Arabia during “a violent raid” in which security forces entered his home and ransacked his studio, the London-based Sanad Human Rights Organization said in a statement.
A court document seen by AFP says the charges against him concern “offensive cartoons” he produced for the Qatari newspaper Lusail as well as social media posts that were allegedly “hostile” to Saudi Arabia and supportive of Qatar.
Hazza’s arrest came less than a year after Saudi Arabia and several allies cut ties with Qatar, claiming it supported extremists and was too close to Iran — allegations that Doha denied. The countries mended ties in January 2021.
Saudi Arabia’s secretive Specialized Criminal Court, set up in 2008 to deal with terrorism-related cases, initially sentenced Hazza to six years in prison. But this year, as Hazza was preparing to be released, the case was re-opened and he was sentenced to 23 years, his sister Asrar al-Hazza told AFP by phone from the United States.
“He was almost there… He almost left the prison. But then out of nowhere it was opened again and it was 23 years,” she said.
Saudi authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the case on Wednesday. Sanad said in its statement that Hazza worked for Lusail mostly before the 2017 boycott “and only briefly afterward” and that most of his cartoons concerned domestic Qatari issues.
The group said prosecutors failed to provide evidence of cartoons that were offensive to Saudi Arabia or social media posts that backed Qatar during the boycott.
Under Crown Prince bin Salman, Saudi Arabia has been criticized for what activists describe as a fierce crackdown on even vaguely critical online speech and on any form of dissent.
Pushed by CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell over the jailing of a prominent women’s rights activist in a 2019 interview for 60 Minutes, bin Salman said, “there are laws in Saudi Arabia that must be respected, whether or not we agree with them, whether I personally agree with them or not.”
Over the past two years the Saudi judiciary has “convicted and handed down lengthy prison terms on dozens of individuals for their expression on social media,” human rights groups Amnesty International and ALQST said in April.
Saudi officials say the accused cartoonist committed terrorism-related offenses.
“The case of Mohammed al-Hazza is one example of the suppression of freedom of expression in Saudi Arabia, which has not spared anyone, including artists,” Sanad operations manager Samer Alshumrani told AFP. “This is supported by the politicized, non-independent judiciary in Saudi Arabia.”
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Saudi Arabia jails cartoonist Mohammed al-Hazza for 23 years for insulting leadership, rights group says