Radiohead have issued a blunt joint statement after their song “Let Down” was used in a social media video by U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The clip, posted to ICE social media accounts, uses a choral version of the song over a montage of alleged victims of violence carried out by “illegal aliens.”
In a statement to The Independent, Radiohead said: “We demand that the amateurs in control of the ICE social media account take it down. 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,” the band continued before signing off, “Radiohead.”
It is not the first time this month the band’s members have found themselves at odds with the Trump administration.
Two weeks ago, the band’s guitarist Jonny Greenwood and director Paul Thomas Anderson asked for a segment of music from their 2017 film Phantom Thread to be removed from Melania Trump’s controversial Amazon documentary.
The musician, who composed the score for the film starring Daniel Day-Lewis, alleged in a statement that the usage of the music was a breach of his composer agreement.
“It has come to our attention that a piece of music from Phantom Thread has been used in the Melania documentary,” Greenwood and Anderson’s representatives said in a joint statement obtained by Variety.
His attorneys claimed that while Greenwood does not own the copyright in the score, the film’s distributor, Universal, “failed to consult Jonny on this third-party use, which is a breach of his composer agreement. As a result, Jonny and Paul Thomas Anderson have asked for it to be removed from the documentary.”
The film includes a long excerpt of “Barbara Rose”, a song the Radiohead guitarist composed for Anderson’s film.
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 30-day free trial. Terms apply.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 30-day free trial. Terms apply.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
The Brett Ratner-directed documentary, which followed the first lady in the 20 days leading up to her husband’s second inauguration, earned $13.35 million domestically after two weekends of release, exceeding box office projections thanks, in part, to organized groups of Republican women who have made up a large portion of the audience.
The film has been critically panned across the board, receiving a one-star review fromThe Independent’s Nick Hilton, who wrote: “Perhaps Melania is merely a piece of post-modern post-entertainment. After all, it is transparently not a documentary.”
In recent years, Greenwood has been a more active film composer than rock musician, writing or contributing to the scores for 12 films, including One Battle After Another, There Will Be Blood and Licorice Pizza.
