Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Tom Petty's Estate Rips Kari Lake For Using Song Without Permission To Promote Her 'Failed Campaign'

Tom Petty; Kari Lake
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic/Getty Images; John Moore/Getty Images

The late rocker's estate released a statement calling out the failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate.

The estate of late rocker Tom Petty criticized Kari Lake—a QAnon adherent and election denier who was the Republican nominee in Arizona's gubernatorial race—after she used his song "I Won't Back Down" to promote her "failed campaign."

Lake has thus far refused to concede after she officially lost the gubernatorial race to Katie Hobbs, the Arizona Secretary of State whom Lake threatened with imprisonment on baseless and unspecified allegations of criminality related to the 2020 election.


Instead, she's rehashed the playbook made popular by former Republican President Donald Trump, falsely alleging that election fraud took place, and her use of "I Won't Back Down" was her way of making this statement in an ad she released following her loss.

However, Petty's estate says the song "was stolen and used without permission or a license to promote Kari Lake’s failed campaign."

You can see the ad below.

Petty's estate posted a longer statement to the rocker's official Twitter account, saying:

"This is illegal. We are exploring all of our legal options to stop this unauthorized use and to prohibit future misappropriations of Tom’s beloved anthem."
"Thank you to all of the fans who brought this to our attention and who help us protect his legacy every day.”

You can see the official statement below.

As it turns out, Lake's choice of music is her simply mimicking Trump, who was called out by Petty's estate for using the same song when he announced a return to the campaign trail in 2020.

At the time, Petty's estate said that Petty—who made no secret of his progressive politics when he was alive—would have disapproved of Trump's use of the song, saying Trump "was in no way authorized" to use it "to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense behind."

Lake and her use of the song were immediately criticized.


The criticism from Petty's estate is only the latest example of Lake being called out by an arist who doesn't agree with the political beliefs of the MAGA crowd.

Earlier this year, Twisted Sister rocker Dee Snider lashed out at Lake after learning her campaign had used the band's song "We're Not Going to Take It" at her campaign rallies.

While Snider acknowledged that people don't have to "get permission to play any song at an event," referring to paid licensing agreements that allow venues to legally use an entire catalog of music, he said that he "WILL denounce" those he disagrees with.

Later, he noted the hyper conservative Lake was using a song "NEVER intended for you fascist morons" because the first line is what he called a "PRO-CHOICE anthem."

Lake's campaign was unrepentant, later responding Snider was once "anti-establishment" because he once testified before Congress about music censorship during hearings in the 1990s about the "dangers" of rock music.

More from Trending

Gavin Newsom; Kristi Noem
Brandon Bell/Getty Images; Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images

Gavin Newsom Just Epically Trolled Kristi Noem With A Fake 'Dog Obedience School' Ad

California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom focused his trolling of the administration of MAGA Republican President Donald Trump on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, creating a fake dog obedience school ad for the self-professed puppy killer.

In her 2024 memoir, No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward, Noem bragged about shooting and killing her 14-month-old Wire-haired Pointer puppy named Cricket after she failed to train it properly and without trying to rehome the dog to a competent trainer or a hunting dog rescue.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Donald Trump
Fox News

Trump Gives Pious Reminder That The Bible Says To Care For 'Vulnerable Children'—And The Hypocrisy Is Off The Charts

President Donald Trump was called out for hypocrisy after he said during the signing of an executive order expanding resources for the foster care system that the Bible instructs society to care for "vulnerable children and orphans"—only for people to point out that he had denied Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to hungry children just days before.

The loss of SNAP is a result of the Trump administration's failure to spend contingency funds to feed people on the program, a decision that is resulting in a nationwide hunger crisis impacting millions of families.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Thomas Massie
Robert Schmidt/Getty Images; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Conservatives Slam Trump After His Attack On GOP Rep's Marriage Is A Low Blow Even For Him

President Donald Trump has been married three times, but his hypocrisy escaped him entirely when he attacked Kentucky Republican Representative Thomas Massie for getting remarried last month following the death of his first wife in 2024—prompting his own party to call him out for going too far.

Last week, Massie announced he'd married his wife, Carolyn Grace Moffa, in late October. His first wife and "high school sweetheart," Rhonda Howard Massie, died in June 2024.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pete Hegseth
Patrick T. Fallon/Getty Images

Video Of Pete Hegseth Screwing 'Department Of War' Sign Onto Building Gets Brutally Mocked

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was widely mocked after the Department of Defense—or shall we say the self-proclaimed "Department of War"—debuted its new plaque by publishing a video showing Hegseth tightening the screws on the new plaque with the words "Department of War" at the Defense Department's River Entrance.

The Pentagon’s rapid response account shared the clip on X along with the following caption:

Keep ReadingShow less

People Explain The Dumbest Reasons They Had To Call 911

We've all made mistakes from time to time, and some of them have probably been pretty cringy and stupid.

But most of us can take comfort in the fact that we didn't do something so stupid that we had to call 9-1-1 to get us out of trouble.

Keep ReadingShow less