Tragically Hip guitarist Paul Langlois has spoken out against political leader Pierre Poilievre for his "highly offensive" use of the Hip's music at a Conservative Party event over the weekend.
UPDATE (3/6, 2:55 p.m. ET): A representative for the Tragically Hip contacted Exclaim! to issue an official statement, acknowledging that the event took place at a venue licensed by SOCAN, and therefore the organizers were not required to seek permission to use the music.
The band wrote, "It is (and has always been) our expectation that brands, political parties, or public figures wishing to use our music for a campaign first seek our approval. When we began to see posts and tweets from the event this weekend, the specifics were unclear. It has now been confirmed that Saturday's event took place in a venue licensed by SOCAN, which means the venue pays a fee to ensure artists and musicians are compensated appropriately when music is played on site. As such, specific permissions were not required in this case. We did not have the full details in our earlier posts – and now consider this matter resolved."
On Twitter, someone tweeted at Langlois to let him know that the CPC was playing the Hip over the PA system at the party's event in Hamilton, ON. iHeartRadio points to a video from the night in which the group's 1992 song "Fifty-Mission Cap" can be heard playing in the background.
Langlois responded, "We certainly did not know this - highly offensive if true (we'll wait to make sure and potentially confirm this) and if so, this will be stopped."
UPDATE (3/6, 2:55 p.m. ET): A representative for the Tragically Hip contacted Exclaim! to issue an official statement, acknowledging that the event took place at a venue licensed by SOCAN, and therefore the organizers were not required to seek permission to use the music.
The band wrote, "It is (and has always been) our expectation that brands, political parties, or public figures wishing to use our music for a campaign first seek our approval. When we began to see posts and tweets from the event this weekend, the specifics were unclear. It has now been confirmed that Saturday's event took place in a venue licensed by SOCAN, which means the venue pays a fee to ensure artists and musicians are compensated appropriately when music is played on site. As such, specific permissions were not required in this case. We did not have the full details in our earlier posts – and now consider this matter resolved."
On Twitter, someone tweeted at Langlois to let him know that the CPC was playing the Hip over the PA system at the party's event in Hamilton, ON. iHeartRadio points to a video from the night in which the group's 1992 song "Fifty-Mission Cap" can be heard playing in the background.
Langlois responded, "We certainly did not know this - highly offensive if true (we'll wait to make sure and potentially confirm this) and if so, this will be stopped."
Since then, Langlois has been inundated with replies, mostly from conservative trolls — and Langlois has been trolling them right back, facetiously telling @BlockchainKush that he isn't allowed to listen to the Hip when baking and encouraging @LeVelHxc2dab0ne to throw her Tragically Hip CDs in the garbage. At one point, he seemed to be posing as his own assistant.
See some of the mayhem down below. And if you're a political leader, remember: don't use the Hip's music without asking permission first.
