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 documentary “Melania,” about President Trump’s wife, but producer Mark Beckman told Variety earlier this week that Mick Jagger was “actually involved” and “blessed,” the Guardian reported.
Another official representative for the group also told the Guardian that the license was “exclusively between rights holder ABKCO and Melania’s producer and the band has nothing to do with it,” but a representative contacted by Variety earlier this week said he hedged that he could not speak directly on the matter.
Representatives for the Rolling Stones and ABKCO, which owns and controls the group’s pre-1971 recordings, did not respond to Variety’s multiple requests for comment on Thursday, but the author of the Guardian article verified the account and sent a BCC to a representative, who did not respond. Sources close to the film continue to claim that Jagger was directly involved in licensing the music.
So, what’s the story? It’s not surprising that this situation has been exaggerated given the Trump administration’s media history, but given President Trump’s contentious past with the Stones, it seems highly unlikely that ABKCO would have licensed the song without the group’s green light, even within its contractual rights.
ABKCO was founded in 1965 by the late Allen Klein, a notoriously tough executive who first became involved with the Stones (and later the Beatles). When he parted ways with the Stones in the early 1970s, he relinquished the rights to the group’s pre-1971 recorded music catalog (which included “Gimme Shelter” and dozens of other songs, including “Satisfaction,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Honky Tonk Women”), which the company continues to control. Since their bitter separation more than 50 years ago, the relationship between the group and ABKCO has reportedly been stable, and the two have collaborated on many projects, usually for high fees, including multiple reissue packages and the use of countless songs in movies.
The group generally does not exercise undue discrimination in licensing its intellectual property for film and other multiple uses. Jagger told Fortune magazine in 2002, “We do a lot of movie licensing. We get a lot of requests, and I usually say yes. It’s a great business. Unless it’s a low-budget movie and it’s a really interesting movie, there’s like a price you want to keep, and then you might be able to get a deal.”
However, the band’s past history with President Trump is highly controversial. They have clashed with the Trump campaign over the use of their music at Trump’s political rallies, and in 2020 went so far as to work with performing rights group BMI in an effort to have their catalog excluded from a blanket license that at least partially covers such use. But Trump continued to use the song in his 2016 and 2020 campaigns, despite repeated warnings.
Laws regarding songs used at political rallies are vague, and while the only practical thing musicians and songwriters can do is demand that their music be stopped, there appears to be little legal obligation for users to comply.
The Stones and the president have also exchanged many colorful words over the years, usually in prickly but somewhat tongue-in-cheek contexts, from Jagger’s fierce criticism of Trump’s policies and repeated statements that he would not support him as a candidate to his tongue-in-cheek responses to questions about his rallies, such as “I’m not Donald’s DJ.”
Making the matter even more unpleasant, the Stones actually ejected Trump from their venue when they performed at Trump’s Atlantic City Convention Center in December 1989, at the end of their “Steel Wheels” tour. Promoter Michael Cole said Trump held a press conference about the show against the band’s wishes and in violation of a prior agreement. Despite Cole’s pleas, Trump continued with the press conference, at which point a 2016 Los Angeles Times article about Cole speaking at the 2015 Pollstar Live conference noted:
“Keith (Richards) pulled out a knife, slammed it on the table and said, ‘What the hell did I hire you for? Do I have to go in there and fire myself (Trump)? One of us is leaving the building, either him or us.’ I said, ‘No.’ I’ll try it. Don’t worry. ”
“Words were exchanged and the result was, ‘I’m trying to get Donald Trump out of my building,'” Cole recalled.
Cole said the situation was resolved when three of Trump’s bodyguards encountered about 40 Stones employees.
“I called Jim Callahan, who was the security chief, on my walkie-talkie and said, ‘Jim, you look like you’re in trouble.’ And he says, ‘Just turn around.’
“I turned around and there was a crew of 40 people with tire irons, hockey sticks and screwdrivers.
“So, Donald, are you going?”
“And then he left.”
Variety will provide more details as the situation develops.
