Trump could be starting to face the music over his campaign’s use of an Isaac Hayes song

UPDATE (Sept. 7, 7:15 a.m. ET): A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Donald Trump’s campaign to stop using musician Isaac Hayes’ song “Hold On, I’m Coming,” in response to a lawsuit from the Hayes estate.

It looks like Donald Trump could be starting to face the music over his campaign’s unauthorized use of an Isaac Hayes song.

As Rolling Stone reported:

A federal judge has granted the Isaac Hayes estate an emergency hearing in their $3 million demand against Donald Trump, who has continually used “Hold On, I’m Coming,” co-written by Hayes, on the campaign trail. Earlier this month, the Hayes estate filed a cease-and-desist and asked for $3 million related to Trump’s unauthorized use of the Sam & Dave classic which, by the estate lawyer’s count, had been played “over one hundred times” at Trump rallies since 2022.

Isaac Hayes III announced the latest development in a post on X, writing in part: “See you in court.” (Trump does not appear to have publicly commented on the matter.)

Trump certainly isn’t the only politician who’s been told to bug off by an artist or their estate after bumping one of their songs at his rallies. But he sure seems to have received more cease-and-desist demands than just about any other candidate.

And frankly, while any personal aversion to Trump would be justified, some of these artists’ refusals just sound like good business sense. After all, it’s certainly plausible that a song could lose replay value if it’s viewed as a soundtrack for one — or more — of Trump’s hate-fueled events, during which he has ranted about immigrants and Jewish people, among others.

And as the younger Hayes explained to Joy Reid recently, that potential diminution of value could be devastating for estates like his father’s, whose owners have had to work long and hard to gain control of the artist’s songs in the first place.

Watch a clip of Joy’s interview with Hayes and his lawyer, James Walker Jr., below.