{"id":506689,"date":"2026-02-27T03:15:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T03:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/506689\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T03:15:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T03:15:12","slug":"band-denies-authorizing-gimme-shelter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/506689\/","title":{"rendered":"Band Denies Authorizing ‘Gimme Shelter’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAn unnamed source close to Mick Jagger<\/a> has denied that the Rolling Stones<\/a> frontman was involved in the decision to license the group\u2019s song \u201cGimme Shelter\u201d for use in the \u201cMelania<\/a>\u201d documentary on President Trump\u2019s wife, although producer Marc Beckman told Variety<\/a> earlier this week that the singer \u201cwas actually involved\u201d and \u201cgave his blessing,\u201d according to a report in to British publication the Guardian.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tA different, official representative for the group also told the Guardian that the license \u201cwas made exclusively between rights holders ABKCO and Melania\u2019s producers, and that the band had nothing to do with it,\u201d although the rep Variety spoke with earlier this week had hedged, saying they couldn\u2019t speak directly on the issue.<\/p>\n

\n\tReps for the Rolling Stones and ABKCO, which owns and administers the group\u2019s pre-1971 recordings, did not respond to Variety\u2019s multiple requests for comment on Thursday, but the writer of the Guardian article confirmed the account and BCC\u2019ed the rep, who did not respond. Sources close to the film continue to assert that Jagger was directly involved in licensing the music.<\/p>\n

\n\tSo what\u2019s the story? Given the Trump Administration\u2019s history with the press, it would not be surprising for the situation to be overstated \u2014 but considering Trump\u2019s contentious history with the Stones, it seems very unlikely that ABKCO would have licensed the song without the group\u2019s go-ahead, even though it may be within their contractual right to do so.<\/p>\n

\n\tABKCO was founded by the late Allen Klein, a notoriously tough business manager who first became involved with the Stones in 1965 (and later the Beatles). When he parted company with the Stones in the early \u201870s, he walked away with the rights to the group\u2019s pre-1971 recorded-music catalog (which includes \u201cGimme Shelter\u201d and classics like \u201cSatisfaction,\u201d \u201cSympathy for the Devil,\u201d \u201cJumpin\u2019 Jack Flash,\u201d \u201cHonky Tonk Women\u201d and dozens more), which the company continues to administer. Relations between the group and ABKCO have stabilized since their bitter separation more than 50 years ago, and the two sides have collaborated on many projects, including multiple reissue packages and countless uses of the songs in films, usually for a reportedly hefty fee.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe group is not usually overly discriminating in licensing its intellectual property for films and multiple other uses. Jagger told Fortune<\/a> magazine back in 2002, \u201cWe do a lot of film licensing. We get lots of requests, and I usually say yes. It\u2019s a great business. You have a sort of price that you like to keep to, unless it\u2019s a low-budget film and it\u2019s a really interesting film \u2014 then you can make a deal maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHowever, the band\u2019s past history with President Trump has been extremely contentious. They have clashed with the Trump campaign over its use of their songs at his political rallies, and in 2020 even went so far as to join forces with performing-rights organization BMI <\/a>in an attempt to exclude their catalog from the blanket license that at least partially covers such uses. However, despite multiple warnings, Trump continued to use the songs in both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe laws around songs being used at political rallies are hazy and realistically the most a musician or songwriter can do is demand for the use to cease, although the user in question seems to be under little legal obligation to comply. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Stones and the president have also exchanged many colorful words over the years, usually in a barbed but slightly jocular context, ranging from Jagger\u2019s fierce criticism of Trump\u2019s policies and repeated statements that they do not endorse him as a candidate, to tongue-in-cheek replies to questions about the rallies like \u201cI am not Donald\u2019s DJ.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMaking the matter even more uncomfortable, the Stones actually had Trump ejected from his own venue when they performed at the Trump-owned Atlantic City Convention Center in December of 1989, toward the end of their \u201cSteel Wheels\u201d tour. Trump staged a press conference about the show, against the band\u2019s wishes and, according to promoter Michael Cohl, in defiance of a previous agreement. Despite Cohl\u2019s entreaties, Trump continued with the press conference, at which point, according to a 2016 Los Angeles Times account<\/a> of Cohl speaking at the 2015 Pollstar Live conference:<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cKeith [Richards] pulls out his knife and slams it on the table and says, \u2018What the hell do I have you for? Do I have to go over there and fire [Trump] myself? One of us is leaving the building \u2013 either him, or us.\u2019 I said, \u2018No. I\u2019ll go do it. Don\u2019t you worry.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWords were exchanged, the upshot of which, recalls Cohl, \u2018I\u2019m trying to throw Donald Trump out of his own building.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe situation was resolved when, according to Cohl\u2019s account, Trump\u2019s three bodyguards encountered approximately 40 Stones staffers.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI go on the walkie-talkie and I call for Jim Callahan, who was head of our security, and I go, \u2018Jim, I think I\u2019m in a bit of trouble.\u2019 And he says, \u2018Just turn around.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI turn around. He\u2019s got 40 of the crew with tire irons and hockey sticks and screwdrivers.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u2018And now, are you gonna go, Donald?\u2019<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAnd off he went.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tVariety will have more on the situation as it develops.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An unnamed source close to Mick Jagger has denied that the Rolling Stones frontman was involved in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,230308,23945,136,7558],"class_list":{"0":"post-506689","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-melania","12":"tag-mick-jagger","13":"tag-music","14":"tag-rolling-stones"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}