Vivek Drops Eminem Lyric in Response to Cease and Desist

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy dropped an Eminem lyric on the rapper in response to a legal move to prevent him from using the rapper’s music on the campaign trail.

Ramaswamy has made karaoke-style performances of Eminem raps, as he did when he broke into a live rendition of the hit “Lose Yourself” at the Iowa State Fair, a well-known part of his campaign persona.

But Eminem licensor BMI let Ramaswamy know they don’t “Stan” his performances by sending a cease and desist letter Monday that warned they would “consider any performance of the Eminem Works by the Vivek 2024 campaign from this date forward to be a material breach of the Agreement for which BMI reserves all rights and remedies with respect thereto.”

On Tuesday’s edition of MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, host Andrea Mitchell asked about the beef, and Ramaswamy said he would abide by the rapper’s wishes.

But Ramaswamy used an Eminem lyric to suggest the rapper was not being true to himself by opposing this use of his music — and posing himself as an early-Eminem-style renegade whom Shady may someday come to agree with:

ANDREA MITCHELL: Let me ask you finally about Eminem. They’ve sent you a cease and desist through the music licensing company to stop using Lose Yourself on the trail. Have you agreed to move on?

VIVEK RAMASWAMY: Yeah. Look, I think that I’ll respect his wishes, but I would just say: Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?

Eminem, in his rise, used to be a guy who actually stood up to the establishment and said the things that the establishment didn’t want him to say. I think the fact that my political viewpoints may differ from his, I think people change over the course of their lives.

But I have hope for him that he will one day rediscover the renegade that made him great. And I’m rooting for that success in his life.

ANDREA MITCHELL: Well, Ramaswamy, thank you for your time today. To be continued, let’s have more opportunity to talk. And good luck out there on the campaign trail.

Watch above via MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports.

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