By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – American rapper Eminem has asked Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, a former millionaire and ex-biotech executive, not to use his music during his presidential campaign, according to a letter unsealed on Monday.
In the letter dated August 23, which was first reported by the Daily Mail, BMI, a performance rights organisation, informed Ramaswamy’s campaign at the rapper’s request that it would no longer license Eminem’s music for use in Ramaswamy’s campaign.
“BMI has received a letter from Marshall P. Mathers III, known professionally as Eminem, objecting to Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign use of Eminem’s musical composition (“Eminem Works”) and requesting that BMI remove all of Eminem’s works from the agreement,” the BMI says in the letter. .
Ramaswamy’s campaign told CNN it would comply with the request to stop using Eminem’s music.
Ramaswamy, a businessman with no political experience, has seen his rivals “bought and paid for” in some polls.
The 38-year-old tech entrepreneur was at the center of many of the more dramatic moments of last week’s first GOP primary debate.
Ramaswamy, a fierce defender of former US President Donald Trump, faced plenty of fire from his more experienced rivals, who seemed to view him as more of a threat than Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has long trailed Trump in second place by a wide margin. Long in the Republican primary polls.
Trump, the front-runner in the primary, missed the first debate last week. He gave an interview to former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, which was released on X, formerly called Twitter, at the same time as the Republican debate.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler)
