While President Donald Trump hopped from party to party Friday night, the performers who entertained his guests at the inaugural balls ran into controversy of their own.
The Piano Guys, a musical group that rose to fame through their YouTube videos, covered two pop hits from the past few years, performing “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction and “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten.
The only thing is, “Fight Song” was actually the official campaign anthem for Trump’s rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton. It played at almost every campaign event and Platten even appeared in a video with song supporting Clinton at the Democratic National Convention.
The Piano Guys play "Fight Song" at Trump #InauguralBall, Clinton campaign's signature song https://t.co/fL7kR3tVxj https://t.co/KcdEwBxbSO
— CNN (@CNN) January 21, 2017
And “What Makes You Beautiful” was written in part by a Clinton supporter, Savan Kotecha, who has not been shy about expressing his distaste for Trump.
Both fired back at The Piano Guys’ use of their songs, saying they were not asked for permission or gave their approval of the covers.
While I respect the office of the President and the peaceful transfer of power, I want to make clear that at at no point did the Piano Guys
— Rachel Platten (@RachelPlatten) January 21, 2017
ask for permission, nor did I or anyone on my team know of, approve or endorse their decision to play Fight Song tonight.
— Rachel Platten (@RachelPlatten) January 21, 2017
They were absolutely NOT given permission to use WMYB at the inaugural ball. I will be looking into taking action.
— Savan Kotecha (@Savan_Kotecha) January 21, 2017
There's nothing I can do re WMYB now, but the song was written out of love for my wife. It's just heartbreaking that it was used to ...(1/2)
— Savan Kotecha (@Savan_Kotecha) January 21, 2017
(2/2) celebrated a man who stands for divisiveness.
— Savan Kotecha (@Savan_Kotecha) January 21, 2017
However, The Piano Guys have covered “What Makes You Beautiful” in the past.
But The Piano Guys are not the only group facing blowback for their song choice. Trump’s choice of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” as the song to which he and his wife Melania had their first dance as the first couple was critiqued by the late singer’s daughter, Nancy Sinatra, who jokingly referenced the first line of the song, “And now the end is near,” in a now-deleted tweet.
Sinatra has been a vocal opponent of Trump and supporter of Clinton throughout the campaign and when asked if her father would have performed at Trump’s inauguration, simply responded, “He would never support a bigot,” per Billboard. The tweet has since been deleted.
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