An unnamed source close to Mick Jagger has denied that the Rolling Stones frontman was involved in the decision to license the group’s song “Gimme Shelter” for use in the “Melania” documentary on President Trump’s wife, although producer Marc Beckman told Variety earlier this week that the singer “was actually involved” and “gave his blessing,” according to a report in to British publication the Guardian.
A different, official representative for the group also told the Guardian that the license “was made exclusively between rights holders ABKCO and Melania’s producers, and that the band had nothing to do with it,” although the rep Variety spoke with earlier this week had hedged, saying they couldn’t speak directly on the issue.
Reps for the Rolling Stones and ABKCO, which owns and administers the group’s pre-1971 recordings, did not respond to Variety’s multiple requests for comment on Thursday, but the writer of the Guardian article confirmed the account and BCC’ed the rep, who did not respond. Sources close to the film continue to assert that Jagger was directly involved in licensing the music.
So what’s the story? Given the Trump Administration’s history with the press, it would not be surprising for the situation to be overstated — but considering Trump’s contentious history with the Stones, it seems very unlikely that ABKCO would have licensed the song without the group’s go-ahead, even though it may be within their contractual right to do so.
ABKCO was founded by the late Allen Klein, a notoriously tough business manager who first became involved with the Stones in 1965 (and later the Beatles). When he parted company with the Stones in the early ‘70s, he walked away with the rights to the group’s pre-1971 recorded-music catalog (which includes “Gimme Shelter” and classics like “Satisfaction,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Honky Tonk Women” and dozens more), which the company continues to administer. Relations between the group and ABKCO have stabilized since their bitter separation more than 50 years ago, and the two sides have collaborated on many projects, including multiple reissue packages and countless uses of the songs in films, usually for a reportedly hefty fee.
The group is not usually overly discriminating in licensing its intellectual property for films and multiple other uses. Jagger told Fortune magazine back in 2002, “We do a lot of film licensing. We get lots of requests, and I usually say yes. It’s a great business. You have a sort of price that you like to keep to, unless it’s a low-budget film and it’s a really interesting film — then you can make a deal maybe.”
However, the band’s past history with President Trump has been extremely contentious. They have clashed with the Trump campaign over its use of their songs at his political rallies, and in 2020 even went so far as to join forces with performing-rights organization BMI in an attempt to exclude their catalog from the blanket license that at least partially covers such uses. However, despite multiple warnings, Trump continued to use the songs in both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns.
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The laws around songs being used at political rallies are hazy and realistically the most a musician or songwriter can do is demand for the use to cease, although the user in question seems to be under little legal obligation to comply.
The Stones and the president have also exchanged many colorful words over the years, usually in a barbed but slightly jocular context, ranging from Jagger’s fierce criticism of Trump’s policies and repeated statements that they do not endorse him as a candidate, to tongue-in-cheek replies to questions about the rallies like “I am not Donald’s DJ.”
Making the matter even more uncomfortable, the Stones actually had Trump ejected from his own venue when they performed at the Trump-owned Atlantic City Convention Center in December of 1989, toward the end of their “Steel Wheels” tour. Trump staged a press conference about the show, against the band’s wishes and, according to promoter Michael Cohl, in defiance of a previous agreement. Despite Cohl’s entreaties, Trump continued with the press conference, at which point, according to a 2016 Los Angeles Times account of Cohl speaking at the 2015 Pollstar Live conference:
“Keith [Richards] pulls out his knife and slams it on the table and says, ‘What the hell do I have you for? Do I have to go over there and fire [Trump] myself? One of us is leaving the building – either him, or us.’ I said, ‘No. I’ll go do it. Don’t you worry.’
“Words were exchanged, the upshot of which, recalls Cohl, ‘I’m trying to throw Donald Trump out of his own building.’”
The situation was resolved when, according to Cohl’s account, Trump’s three bodyguards encountered approximately 40 Stones staffers.
“I go on the walkie-talkie and I call for Jim Callahan, who was head of our security, and I go, ‘Jim, I think I’m in a bit of trouble.’ And he says, ‘Just turn around.’
“I turn around. He’s got 40 of the crew with tire irons and hockey sticks and screwdrivers.
“‘And now, are you gonna go, Donald?’
“And off he went.”
Variety will have more on the situation as it develops.
From Variety US