"Run Boy Run is a LGBT+ anthem written by me, a proud LGBT+ musician. How ironic." In a message posted on X, on Wednesday, August 7, French musician Woodkid expressed his outrage at seeing former US president Donald Trump continue to use one of his tracks in a campaign video.
"Once again, I never gave permission for the use of my music on that [Donald Trump] film," he wrote, in reference to a nearly 2-minute video broadcast by the Republican candidate's teams, which he had already taken issue with in December.
The video was re-released on Trump's social media platform, Truth Social, on Monday, featuring images of soldiers and anti-vaccine protesters, as well as slogans such as "America first," set to music by Woodkid, and the artist wanted to distance himself from it once again.
The 41-year-old Frenchman, whose real name is Yoann Lemoine, called on music giant Universal Music to address the situation. "Please react and don't be complicit," he said, tagging Universal Music France's account on the social media platform X. To date, the group has not reacted.
This is not a first for Woodkid. In 2021, on Twitter, he had promised to take "legal action" against Génération Zemmour, a movement of young people supporting pundit Eric Zemmour, who was a far-right candidate in France's presidential elections at the time, after a "propaganda video using" his music, "in a totally illicit manner."
In 2016, he also spoke out on the same platform against his music being played during a demonstration by opponents of gay marriage in France. "It's the Middle Ages side to my music that must have appealed to them," he had quipped at the time.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.