Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has played Enimem music at campaign stops and, excruciatingly, rapped to it himself on-stage. Eminem says he would like this not to happen again.
BMI, a performing rights organization, has informed Ramaswamy's campaign at Eminem's request that it will no longer license the rapper's music for use by the campaign. In a letter to the campaign dated August 23, BMI says it "received a communication from Marshall B. Mathers, III, professionally known as Eminem, objecting to the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign's use of Eminem's musical compositions," according to a copy of the letter obtained by CNN.
His campaign has already indicated it will comply: "Vivek just got on the stage and cut loose," a spokesperson said, quoting an Eminem line. "To the American people's chagrin, we will have to leave the rapping to the real slim shady."
Ramaswamy had a breakout performance against a dull field of GOP also-rans last week, in a TV debate that front-runner Donald Trump did not attend. But his Hindu faith and other attributes are a "challenge" for conservative voters, while his right-wing ramblings give him little chance of attracting anyone else, no matter how much the New York Times hypes him.
