--- title: Pharrell Sends Trump Cease and Desist Over 'Happy' Song description: Pharrell Williams is demanding that President Donald Trump stop playing his song "Happy" following its use at a rally on Saturday. canonical: https://time.com/5438779/pharrell-trump-happy/ author: Ciara Nugent article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-30T12:08:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T21:52:40.122Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Pharrell Demands President Trump Stop Playing 'Happy' at His Political Rallies og:description: Pharrell's lawyer sent Trump a cease and desist og:url: https://time.com/5438779/pharrell-trump-happy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc368b0d27b76b555/69893dca8fd2eea3d935cff1/gettyimages-1052659624.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2018 Children's Hospital Los Angeles "From Paris With Love" Gala og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Pharrell Demands President Trump Stop Playing 'Happy' at His Political Rallies twitter:description: Pharrell's lawyer sent Trump a cease and desist twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc368b0d27b76b555/69893dca8fd2eea3d935cff1/gettyimages-1052659624.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Pharrell Demands President Trump Stop Playing 'Happy' at His Political Rallies > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Ciara Nugent](https://time.com/author/ciara-nugent/)  ## Ciara Nugent Oct 30, 2018 12:08 PM UTC  Pharrell Williams performs onstage at the 2018 Children's Hospital Los Angeles "From Paris With Love" Gala at LA Live on October 20, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. Pharrell Williams performs onstage at the 2018 Children's Hospital Los Angeles "From Paris With Love" Gala at LA Live on October 20, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.Alberto E. Rodriguez – Getty Images for Children's Hospital Gala  by [Ciara Nugent](https://time.com/author/ciara-nugent/)  ## Ciara Nugent Oct 30, 2018 12:08 PM UTC Pharrell Williams is demanding that President Donald Trump stop playing his song “Happy” following its use at a rally on Saturday hours after a [mass shooting at Pittsburgh Synagogue](http://time.com/money/5437626/pittsburgh-tree-of-life-synagogue-shooting-how-to-help/) left 11 peopled dead. “Pharrell has not, and will not, grant you permission to publicly perform or otherwise broadcast or disseminate any of his music,” the singer’s lawyer, Howard King, wrote in a cease and desist letter sent to Trump on Monday. “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,” the letter reads. “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.” Trump [defended his decision](http://time.com/5436877/trump-synagogue-armed-guard/?utm%5Fcampaign=time&xid=time%5Fsocialflow%5Ftwitter&utm%5Fsource=twitter.com&utm%5Fmedium=social) to go ahead with Saturday’s rally, arguing that allowing the synagogue attack to “change all our lives” would be a victory for the gunman. King says that using Pharrell’s song without consent amounts to copyright and trademark infringement. Pharrell is not the first artist to oppose Trump’s use of their music at his events. In August, Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler [sent the President a cease and desist letter](http://time.com/5375337/steven-tyler-trump-aerosmith-songs-rallies/) ordering him to stop playing the band’s song “Livin’ on the Edge”, saying it was “falsely implying that our client … endorses his campaign and/or his presidency.” Adele, the Rolling Stones and Queen have also demanded Trump keep their songs out of his rallies. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5438779/pharrell-trump-happy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5438779/pharrell-trump-happy/"},"headline":"Pharrell Demands President Trump Stop Playing 'Happy' at His Political Rallies","datePublished":"2018-10-30T12:08:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:52:40.122Z","description":"Pharrell's lawyer sent Trump a cease and desist","url":"https://time.com/5438779/pharrell-trump-happy/","keywords":["Music","politics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc368b0d27b76b555/69893dca8fd2eea3d935cff1/gettyimages-1052659624.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ciara Nugent","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ciara-nugent/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc368b0d27b76b555/69893dca8fd2eea3d935cff1/gettyimages-1052659624.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2018 Children's Hospital Los Angeles \"From Paris With Love\" Gala","caption":"2018 Children's Hospital Los Angeles \"From Paris With Love\" Gala","creditText":"Alberto E. 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