2024 Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy has been trying to separate himself from the pack of candidates by playing up his more youthful appeal. As part of that, he’s been using music from Eminem in his campaign. He even performed some of the hip-hop star’s songs while on the campaign trail.
Ramaswamy got a rude awakening earlier this week when Eminem reportedly sent him a cease-and-desist letter demanding that he stop using the singer’s music on the campaign trail.
“The rapper Eminem reached out to the music licenser BMI and asked that the Ramaswamy campaign’s license to use his music be revoked, according to a letter obtained by DailyMail.com,” the outlet reported on Monday.
“In a letter dated August 23, a representative for BMI informed the campaign’s lawyer that the label had ‘received communications from Marshall B. Mathers, III, professionally known as Eminem, objecting to the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign’s use of Eminem’s musical compositions (the ‘Eminem Works’) and requesting that BMI remove all Eminem Works from the Agreement.”
Now, Ramaswamy has said that he plans to honor Eminem’s wishes and not use the music any longer, though he countered the perceived diss with a diss of his own.
“Yeah, I think that I’ll respect (Eminem’s) wishes but I would just say ‘Would the real Slim Shady please stand up?’” Ramaswamy said when asked if he’s stop using. the music. “Eminem in his rise used to be a guy who actually stood up to the establishment and said the things that the establishment didn’t want him to say.
“I think the fact that my political viewpoints may differ from his, I think people change over the course of their lives. But I have hope for him that he will one day rediscover the renegade that made him great and I’m rooting for that success in his life.”
The biotech entrepreneur made waves at the recent Republican debate but it remains to be seen if he is a viable challenger to Donald Trump and the other candidates.
