A ‘Gimme Shelter’ that gave shelter to no one
Things got spicy between rock and roll and politics again. It turns out that the Amazon documentary about Melania Trump used the Rolling Stones’ Gimme Shelter for its intro, set at Mar-a-Lago. And that’s where the mess began.
The film’s producer, Marc Beckman, told Variety that Mick Jagger was directly involved. He even claimed that the Stones frontman gave his “blessing” after seeing a rough version. Sounds good, right? Well not so fast.
An official spokesperson for the Rolling Stones denied this version to the newspaper The Guardian. He assured that the agreement was only between the rights holders (Abkco) and the producers. The band did not participate in anything.
That is, according to them, Mick neither saw the documentary nor gave his approval. It’s like when they invite you to a party using your name, but you didn’t even realize it.
To add fuel to the fire, Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead) and director Paul Thomas Anderson also asked that a piece of theirs be removed from the same documentary. They alleged that Universal, who owns the rights, did not inform them.
But Beckman seems firm. He said the song stays on the soundtrack “regardless of the infrastructure that distributes the content”. Translation: no matter what happens.
This is already a classic. Remember all the times artists like Rihanna or the Rolling Stones themselves have complained before about the use of their music at Trump-related events. Pop culture remains an uncomfortable political battleground.
In the end, there is that strange feeling. Seeing images of life at Mar-a-Lago with one of rock’s most iconic anthems playing in the background… it’s a brutal contrast. And meanwhile, artists continue to struggle to control where and how their art sounds.
