Eminem takes legal action against presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy for rapping his music on campaign trail

Ramaswamy, 38, is known for spitting verses from the Detroit rapper’s Oscar-winning song, “Lose Yourself.”

Eminem has sent GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy a cease and desist letter demanding he stop rapping his music on the campaign trail.

Ramaswamy, 38, who is known for spitting verses from the Detroit rapper’s Oscar-winning song, “Lose Yourself,” was given a notice last Wednesday (Aug. 23). According to the letter obtained by the Daily Mail, Eminem’s lawyers recently reached out to BMI and demanded that it remove the 2024 Republican presidential hopeful’s ability to use his music of any sort at campaign events.

A spokesperson for the music licenser informed his campaign lawyer that the organization “received communications from Marshall B. Mathers, III, professionally known as Eminem, objecting to the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign’s use of Eminem’s musical compositions (the ‘Eminem Works’) and requesting that BMI remove all Eminem Works from the agreement.” It continued, “This letter serves as notice that the Eminem Works are excluded from the agreement effective immediately. BMI will 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.”

According to a statement provided to HuffPost, a spokesperson for Ramaswamy said they will obey “The Real Slim Shady” hitmaker’s request. “Vivek just got on the stage and cut loose. To the American people’s chagrin, we will have to leave the rapping to the Real Slim Shady,” Tricia McLaughlin wrote in an email.

During an interview with POLITICO back in July, Ramaswamy told the media outlet that he has always been inspired by Eminem, as he used to perform “Lose Yourself” at Harvard open-mic nights under the stage name Da Vek. “He’s growing up in the trailers, with a single mom, and he wants to make it. He’s going to use the moment to do it. He feels like he’s going to use the moment to do it, he seizes it and then he makes it happen, and I thought it was a pretty cool story,” he recalled. “I didn’t grow up in a trailer, but I also didn’t grow up in the same circumstances that most of my peers at Harvard did, either. I aspired to achieve what many of their parents did. It kind of spoke to me, I would say.”