Temporary ruling prevents ex-president Donald Trump from using Hold On, I’m Comin’

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Don’t hold on as Trump is not comin at present after Judge ruling.

A judge on Tuesday blocked Donald Trump from playing a song by the late soul singer and composer Isaac Hayes at his rallies, at least while a lawsuit from the artist’s family seeking a permanent injunction is considered.

The temporary ruling from the federal court judge Thomas Thrash in Atlanta, Georgia, prevents the Republican presidential nominee from further use of Hold On, I’m Comin’, written by Hayes and David Porter and a 1966 hit for the Miami-based soul duo Sam & Dave.

The preliminary order does not require the Trump campaign to take down videos from the internet of previous events at which the song was played as the former president’s exit music, and will remain in effect until the wider lawsuit filed by Hayes’ family is resolved.

A growing number of performing artists have demanded Trump stop playing their music at events in recent months, and threatened legal action for unauthorized use, including Abba, the White Stripes singer Jack White, Celine Dion and Johnny Marr of the British band the Smiths.

Isaac Hayes III, son of the artist who died in 2008, praised the ruling.

“We are very grateful and happy for the decision by Judge Thrash … I couldn’t ask for a better decision. I want this to serve as an opportunity for other artists to come forward that don’t want their music used by Donald Trump or other political entities,” he told reporters, according to Deadline.

Ronald Coleman, a Trump campaign lawyer, said it no longer used the Hayes song anyway.

“The campaign had already agreed to cease further use. We’re very gratified that the court recognized the first amendment issues at stake and didn’t order a takedown of existing videos,” he said, reported by the New York Times.

Trump’s attorneys argued that the Hayes estate was not the license holder for the song, and that it had permission to use it, a statement Hayes family lawyers said was “erroneous”.

Trump has been using Hold On, I’m Comin’ for at least four years, and breached copyright on at least 134 occasions, according to the lawsuit. After one such use, at the 2022 National Rifle Association convention in Houston, Texas, Porter tweeted: “Hell to the No! I did Not and would NOT approve of them using the song for any of his purposes!”

The singer Sam Moore, of Sam & Dave, sang America the Beautiful at Trump’s 2017 inauguration concert. In 2008, he demanded the Democratic then candidate Barack Obama stop using his song Soul Man at campaign events, but performed the track for Obama at the White House five years later.

Prince Harry isn’t coming back any time soon

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex

The Duke of Wellington famously suggested that the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton. To this day, something happens in the hallowed cloisters of the nation’s most famous public school that brings out qualities in its pupils that no other educational establishment can muster. I refer, of course, to those redoubtable souls who continue to maintain friendships with Prince Harry, after everything that has happened over the past few years. Quasi-abdication, Oprah, Netflix, Spare – none of it matters in their eyes.

The Duke of Sussex is, to them, a cracking example of a Top Bloke, and long may he be defended.

Harry’s return would risk making the institution a laughing stock

This is, in my view, the only plausible explanation for the apparent willingness of these ‘friends’ of Prince Harry to come forward to various media outlets, including the Daily Telegraph, and conveniently rubbish stories and suggestions in other, less appropriate newspapers.

The current subject for discussion is whether Harry, tiring of life in Montecito as a third wheel to his wife and her jam-making business, is putting out discreet feelers to see whether he could resume a limited number of royal duties in Britain, with an eventual view to a reconciliation with his family. This has been floated before, especially in the wake of his father’s illness. But since his fleeting, low-key return to the country for his uncle Lord Fellowes’ funeral – where, true to form, he and his brother ignored one another – there have been further whispers that Harry would like a life where he can be around more and see his family, as well as pursuing good works.

Time for his friends to swoop in. Not a bit of it, these well-placed denizens of the Kings’ Road and Eaton Square are quick to say: Harry is currently enjoying a great life in California, where he has made a series of amazing new friends – not as close as us, admittedly, but still important – and is loving being a family man. This circle has assured the media that Harry has ‘no interest’ in any kind of return to Britain, whether as a private citizen or a low-key working member of the royal family. He is focused, they say, on his various charitable and sporting initiatives, including a new project called the Parents’ Network, which is designed to support parents whose children have been abused online. Some might suggest that supporting the children is more important, but one step at a time.

Amusingly, there is now some debate in the media as to which set of Harry’s friends is more loyal. It has been suggested that those who are keen to tip off newspapers – and are therefore on speed dial for the Duke’s anguished WhatsApp messages and early morning calls – are those who have been ‘acquired in more recent times’. This suggests that they are more easily impressed by his entreaties than those who have stuck by him for the best part of three decades.

Admittedly, some of his long-standing friends are said to have dropped him, believing that he has betrayed his family and his country with some of his more inflammatory statements.

But he has the likes of Tyler Perry to confide in now, as well as other celebrity friends, so all is well. Let’s forget details such as when George Clooney attended his wedding, the actor supposedly confessed to never having met the bride or bridegroom before; Harry is a popular man, we are told, and there are many who adore him.

Unless matters change very considerably, it is unlikely that either the King or Prince William will countenance any kind of formal return for Harry into the royal family. It would be too humiliating after what has happened, and would risk making the institution a laughing stock. Likewise, his high-profile battle against the British government over his personal security issues, and his bold statement that the country is no longer safe for his wife to visit, do not suggest that he would be returning here holding out an olive branch.

Harry’s friends, a loyal and helpfully media-savvy bunch though they doubtlessly are, might be amusing themselves by making contradictory and attention-grabbing claims. But for all the media excitement that these pronouncements lead to, it is tempting to take them with a large helping of (no doubt America Riviera Orchard-sourced) salt. Unless hell freezes over, Harry is not coming back to Britain full-time. And many may breathe a deep sigh of relief at that.

A Very Royal Scandal will revisit the Prince Andrew BBC Newsnight interview, this time as a three-part TV series

If you enjoyed Netflix's Scoop, we recommend bookmarking A Very Royal Scandal, an Amazon TV series that will focus on the controversy that followed Prince Andrew's interview with BBC Newsnight back in 2019.

Luther star Ruth Wilson will play Emily Maitlis, while Michael Sheen will play Prince Andrew in this iteration. It will be the next series that belongs to Amazon's Scandal franchise, which includes A Very English Scandal – starring Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw – and A Very British Scandal, which followed The Argyle divorce and starred Claire Foy and Paul Bettany.

Just like Scoop, the series will portray the drama surrounding Prince Andrew's interview with BBC Newsnight.

A synopsis for the Amazon TV series reads as follows: "One night. One hour. One interview that sent shockwaves around the globe. Based on the real-life 2019 interview between Emily Maitlis and Prince Andrew over the scandalous accusations he faced regarding his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein and Virginia Giuffre.

“A Very Royal Scandal follows the action of Maitlis and Prince Andrew in the lead-up to the interview, the ground-breaking event itself and the many questions left in its wake that would change their lives forever.”

Emily Maitlis

However, one major difference between the projects is that Newsnight interviewer Emily is an executive producer for Amazon Prime's version, while she played little part in Netflix's offering.

"I've left them very much to do their own thing because I think the last thing they want is me peeking around the edges offering my [views]," the former BBC journalist explained. "It says it's based on a fictional account, so I think it goes into different places and it does different things [to the Amazon series]."

The journalist dismissed claims of a rivalry between the two stories, saying: "I think that probably is overplayed, overstated. This [the Amazon series] will be a very different beast.

"I'm sure there's room for both. It's unreal that there is all this interest and all this excitement."

It will drop on Prime Video on 19 September.