Sources close to Mick Jagger have cast heavy doubt on claims that the Rolling Stones frontman gave permission for his band’s music to be used in the first lady’s self-titled documentary.
According to The Guardian, a source close to Jagger, 82, expressed skepticism that the singer was involved in approving the song “Gimme Shelter” for the first lady’s documentary.
The revelation comes as Marc Beckman, who has been the first lady’s adviser for 25 years and served as a producer for Melania—a movie that follows the first lady leading up to President Donald Trump’s second inauguration—told Variety on Monday that Jagger “gave us his blessing” and was “involved” in approving the song for the movie.
“We worked very close with them on that,” Beckman said of the film’s producers’ alleged cooperation with the band, adding, “that wasn’t a political thing. With the Stones, they were just like, ‘Oh, you’re making a nice movie.’”
Ownership of the Rolling Stones’ music catalog is split, with ABKCO Music & Records holding rights to material created from 1963 to 1971, including the song “Gimme Shelter.” That song was released in 1969 and serves as the soundtrack to an opening sequence in Melania at Mar-a-Lago.
A Rolling Stones spokesperson told The Guardian that the deal to use the song in the documentary was made between ABKCO and the producers, and that the band members were not involved in the decision, despite Beckman’s claim.
The Daily Beast has contacted Jagger’s representatives and ABKCO Music & Records for comment.
Skepticism over Jagger’s involvement in authorizing the song for the documentary comes as the band has a track record of not politically aligning with Trump, 79.
In 2016, the band tweeted, “The Rolling Stones do not endorse Donald Trump,” and after he used their songs during his 2020 election campaign, representatives for the group said that “further steps to exclude” Trump’s use of Rolling Stones songs were being taken after previous “cease and desist directives” had been ignored.
In his interview with Variety, Beckman named three other artists who snubbed the first lady by refusing the rights to their music, claiming that he was unable to get permission from Guns N’ Roses, Grace Jones, and Prince’s estate for political reasons.
The producer also spoke about Radiohead lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood and film director Paul Thomas Anderson, who earlier this month accused Melania of using music from the film Phantom Thread without consulting Greenwood, which they deemed “a breach of his composer agreement” with Universal.
Beckman told Variety that the song “is in the film forever,” despite Anderson and Greenwood asking for it to be removed.
“It’s disappointing when people put politics so far ahead, and that happened a little bit with the film, for sure,” Beckman said, repeating multiple times that the film was not political.
On Tuesday, in his State of the Union address, Trump called out his “movie star” wife as he promoted what Beckman referred to as a “non-political, non-ideological story.”
