Hegseth’s Video Deleted, Reposted After Metallica’s Cease & Desist Over Unauthorized Use of ‘Enter Sandman’ in Drone Clip
Metallica have never taken kindly to people using their music in ways they don’t approve of. The latest example is the Pentagon, which was forced to delete and then repost a video featuring Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth boasting about the administration’s ramped up effort “unleashing American drone dominance” after the rock group objected to the unauthorized use of one of their biggest hits.
The original clip was cued to Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” but according to Rolling Stone, the Department of Defense had to take it down after a copyright complaint from the group. The press secretary for the DoD confirmed the action on Friday to Military.com writer Konstantin Toropin on X, writing, “This afternoon, representatives from X reached out to DoD regarding a video posted on our social media page and asked that the video be removed due to a copyright issue with the song ‘Enter Sandman’ by Metallica. The video has been taken down, corrected and re-uploaded to our page.”
A spokesperson for Metallica confirmed to Billboard that the use of “Enter Sandman” in the promotional video was “absolutely not authorized”; a spokesperson for the DoD had not returned Billboard‘s request for comment at press time.
The two-minute video filmed in front of the Pentagon found Fox News host Hegseth boasting of the Trump administration’s removal of “bureaucratic red tape” in the manufacturing of military drones as a buzzing quadcopter carrying a memo for him to sign hovered near his head. “Here’s the memo we’re signing today, delivered via drone,” he said as he signed the piece of paper. The second version of the video has no soundtrack.
Donald Trump has long used music at his rallies and events without the consent of the artists, with many speaking out it over the years. From his first run for the White House in 2015 through his current term, Trump has faced backlash from musicians who objected to him playing their songs at his events, including Adele, Beyoncé, Celine Dion, Foo Fighters, Guns N’ Roses, the estate of Isaac Hayes — which sued trump for using the late soul singer’s “Hold On, I’m Coming” at rallies — as well as the White Stripes’ Jack White, Neil Young, Prince, R.E.M., Rihanna, the Rolling Stones and many more.
Gil Kaufman
Billboard
