Doctored image of Dave Grohl circulates after Trump campaign row
- Published on August 29, 2024 at 18:37
- Updated on August 30, 2024 at 17:13
- 3 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
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The image shared August 25, 2024 on X appears to show Grohl with a hat featuring the slogan from Trump's 2016 run for president.
Posts sharing it spread across X amid controversy over Trump's use of the 1997 Foo Fighters anthem "My Hero" at an August 23 rally in Arizona with Robert F. Kennedy Jr, an anti-vaccine activist and conspiracy theorist who suspended his long-shot presidential campaign that day and endorsed the Republican nominee.
The Foo Fighters slammed Trump in response, with a spokesperson telling US media the Republican's team did not ask permission to use the song, nor would it have been granted (archived here). The band said it would be donating any royalties received as a result to Democratic nominee Kamala Harris's campaign.
The band also posted on X that it did not approve the usage (archived here).
While Grohl has indicated that the band wants to play for "everyone," the image of the rock star in the pro-Trump gear is doctored.
Reverse image searches surfaced the original version published by the Australian media outlet PerthNow (archived here). The article says photographer Justin Benson-Cooper captured the shot of Grohl outside a hotel in Perth ahead of a November 2023 concert.
The photo shows Grohl facing the opposite direction and wearing a black hat in support of the nonprofit "Hope The Mission," which according to its website is committed to tackling poverty, hunger and homelessness.
"I took this image in 2023 in Perth and he definitely was not wearing a MAGA cap," Benson-Cooper said in an August 29 email.
Steve Martin, the musician's publicist, also told AFP in an August 28 email that the pro-Trump version circulating online is "absolutely 100 percent phony."
The altered image is watermarked to an anonymous X user whose bio features pro-Trump hashtags and says: "Memes are always the best medicine."
The Foo Fighters' row follows complaints from Swedish pop group ABBA and a cease-and-desist notice Beyonce's representatives sent the Trump team after a spokesman posted a video featuring the artist's song "Freedom," which has separately become an anthem for the Harris campaign. The spokesman has since deleted the video.
The family of the late Isaac Hayes has also taken legal action against the Trump campaign for repeatedly bumping his tune "Hold On, I'm Coming" at the ex-president's rallies without permission, with a judge granting an emergency hearing in the dispute, according to the singer's son.
Other artists complaining about Trump's rally songs include Celine Dion, who objected to the unauthorized use of her song "My Heart Will Go On," from the film "Titanic."
AFP has debunked other misinformation about the US election here.
This fact-check was updated to include comment from photographer Justin Benson-CooperAugust 30, 2024 This fact-check was updated to include comment from photographer Justin Benson-Cooper
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