Leonard Cohen Estate Sends Trump Cease-and-Desist Over ‘Hallelujah’

Donald Trump’s campaign has received yet another cease-and-desist letter over the music played at his events. This time, it’s the Leonard Cohen estate, after Rufus Wainwright’s cover of “Hallelujah,” played during Trump’s bizarre town hall-turned-listening session in Oaks, Pennsylvania, last night, Oct. 14.

Rolling Stone can confirm that Cohen’s publishing company, Sony Music Publishing, sent the Trump campaign a cease-and-desist order following the event. (A rep for Sony did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for additional comment.)

Artists who have been unhappy with Trump playing their music typically have to go through their publishers to prevent further use. That’s because campaigns obtain blanket political use licenses from publishers and rights management companies that allow them to play a host of songs at events. If artists object to a particular candidate’s use of a song, they’ll have to ask their publishers to remove their work from those blanket licenses. 

This isn’t the first time “Hallelujah” has been at the center of one of these battles, either. Back in 2020, the song was played during the fireworks portion of the Republican National Convention, prompting the Cohen estate to issue a statement saying they were “surprised and dismayed that the RNC” went ahead with using the song even though the Cohen estate had “specifically declined the RNC’s use request.” 

(The estate’s lawyer also quipped, “Had the RNC requested another song, ‘You Want it Darker,’ for which Leonard won a posthumous Grammy in 2017, we might have considered approval of that song.”)

“Hallelujah” was one of several songs played during Trump’s strange campaign event last night, which was supposed to be a Q&A with South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem. But after multiple attendees required medical attention, Trump decided to nix the conversation and just listen to music instead. The playlist also included longtime Trump favorite, “Y.M.C.A.,” tracks by Elvis and Sinead O’Connor, and Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond” (per The New York Times).