Radiohead demands ICE take down video using ‘Let Down’
Radiohead has demanded US immigration authorities remove a social media video that used the band’s music, saying the track was appropriated without permission and carries deep meaning for the group and listeners.
In a statement cited by Page Six, the band objected to a pro-ICE video that played a choral version of “Let Down” over portrait photos of people described as victims of alleged violence involving undocumented migrants, and said those running the agency’s account should take it down.
The report said the post carried a caption claiming “thousands of American families have been torn apart because of criminal illegal alien violence”, and that the Department of Homeland Security’s deputy assistant secretary Ms Lauren Bis responded by focusing on named victims and questioning “where is the compassion” for families affected by such crimes.
The band’s pushback comes weeks after related controversy involving guitarist Jonny Greenwood and filmmaker Mr Paul Thomas Anderson, with the pair previously asking for a song to be removed from a documentary, a dispute referenced in Thom Yorke’s defence of his Radiohead bandmate.
Radiohead and ICE did not immediately respond to requests for comment, the report added, as the incident adds to a growing list of artists challenging the use of their work in political messaging and government campaigns.
