Flavor Flav fired from Public Enemy after he accused Bernie Sanders of using his image at a campaign rally
Hip-hop legends Public Enemy made an official announcement on March 1 that they are letting their hypeman Flavor Flav go after 37 years. The surprising dismissal follows just two days after Flav sent a cease-and-desist letter to Bernie Sanders over Chuck D's Sunday concert at the campaign's Los Angeles rally.
“Public Enemy and Public Enemy Radio will be moving forward without Flavor Flav”, they said in a brief statement. “We thank him for his years of service and wish him well”.
In the cease-and-desist letter, uploaded by Pitchfork News, sent to Sanders by Matthew Friedman, Flav's lawyer, Sanders is accused of using the hypeman's “unauthorized likeness, image and trademarked clock” in the campaign in promotion of the rally despite that Flav “has not endorsed any political candidate in this election cycle.”
The statement reads, “While Chuck is certainly free to express his political view as he sees fit — his voice alone does not speak for Public Enemy." It states. “The planned performance will only be Chuck D of Public Enemy, it will not be a performance by Public Enemy. Those who truly know what Public Enemy stands for know what time it is, there is no Public Enemy without Flavor Flav."
Friedman adds in the letter, "The continued publicizing of this grossly misleading narrative is, at a minimum, careless and irresponsible if not intentionally misleading." It goes on to say, "It is unfortunate that a political campaign would be so careless with the artistic integrity of such iconoclastic figures in American culture."
Flav gave a personal handwritten note to Sanders at the bottom of the letter, saying "Hey Bernie, don’t do this."
After Flav accused Sanders and before being fired from Public Enemy, Chuck D said in a statement, “Flavor chooses to dance for his money and not do benevolent work like this. He has a year to get his act together and get himself straight or he’s out.” A lawyer for Chuck D added, “From a legal standpoint, Chuck could perform as Public Enemy if he ever wanted to; he is the sole owner of the Public Enemy trademark. He originally drew the logo himself in the mid-80s and is also the creative visionary and the group’s primary songwriter, having written Flavor’s most memorable lines.”
Prior to Flavor Flav’s firing — and after the hypeman accused Sanders of using his “unauthorized likeness, image and trademarked clock” to promote the rally — Chuck D said of his bandmate of 37 years in a statement, “Flavor chooses to dance for his money and not do benevolent work like this. He has a year to get his act together and get himself straight or he’s out.”
A lawyer for Chuck D added, “From a legal standpoint, Chuck could perform as Public Enemy if he ever wanted to; he is the sole owner of the Public Enemy trademark". He says, "He originally drew the logo himself in the mid-80’s, is also the creative visionary and the group’s primary songwriter, having written Flavor’s most memorable lines."