Village People Reacts After President Trump Shares ‘Offensive' AI Video of Fake Obama Arrest Set to ‘Y.M.C.A.'
Shortly after the POTUS shared a fake, AI-generated video on Truth Social of former president Barack Obama getting arrested while the band's iconic 1970s hit plays in the background, Village People shared its thoughts on the matter in a joint statement to People on Monday (July 21). 'While we don't want 'Y.M.C.A.' to be used for political endorsements of any kind, President Trump merely sharing a video containing our song does not meet the standard for copyright infringement,' the members said.
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'However, we will attempt to find the original person or entity who posted the offensive video featuring President Barack Obama, and have such video taken down as not being endorsed by Village People, nor any of the owners of the copyright,' the group added.
In the controversial video, digital renderings of Trump and Obama sit together in the Oval Office. As faux FBI officers suddenly come into view, the twice-impeached chief of state smiles unnaturally while the Democratic politician is handcuffed and carried out of frame.
The clip — which also features a montage of Democratic party leaders repeating the phrase, 'No one is above the law' — then cuts to AI-generated shots of Obama standing behind bars, wearing an orange jumpsuit. The former president has never been arrested, though the sitting POTUS is a convicted felon.
This isn't the first time Trump has platformed misleading AI-generated content. Last August, he shared false images that led supporters to believe that Taylor Swift had endorsed him for president, something the pop star later rebuked while throwing her support behind Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
Much like the AI materials he's shared, 'Y.M.C.A.' has also become a hallmark of Trump's second term in the White House. The billionaire often used the track at his events and rallies leading up to his 2024 election win, and — despite previously requesting that he stop — Village People has signed off on his affinity for the song.
'The Trump campaign knew they had obtained a political use license from BMI and absent that license being terminated, they had every right to continue using Y.M.C.A.,' founder Victor Willis said in a December statement on Facebook. 'The financial benefits have been great as well as 'Y.M.C.A.' is estimated to gross several million dollars since the President Elect's continued use of the song. Therefore, I'm glad I allowed the President Elect's continued use of Y.M.C.A. And I thank him for choosing to use my song.'
The following month, Village People performed 'Y.M.C.A.' at the president's pre-inauguration rally in Washington, D.C., where Trump joined the band members and danced along on stage.
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Yahoo
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Here's Why Gen Z Is So, So Disapproving Of Couples With Age Differences
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If anything, the argument that they're both of age is 'something groomers cling to,' as one young woman on Threads put it. 'Adulthood was meant to signify voting/draft age,' she wrote. 'But everyone knows your prefrontal cortex is not fully formed at this age.' (This difference between so-called brain age and chronological age ― you might be 21 but your brain is undeveloped! ― often gets brought up in these kinds of conversations.) There are gender-swapped examples too, like actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson and filmmaker Sam Taylor-Johnson, a now-married couple who met while working on a 2009 John Lennon biopic called Nowhere Boy. At the time, he was in his late teens and she was a mother of two in her early 40s. 'I didn't relate to anyone my age,' the actor told The Telegraph in 2019, reflecting on when they first met. 'I just feel that we're on the same wavelength.' Some fans aren't convinced. 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Mona, a 21-year-old college student in Georgia, even finds her own parents' 11-year age gap a little 'predatory': Her dad was in his late 30s and a divorced father of one when he met her mom, who was in her late 20s and didn't have children. Mona would date someone three years older. She wouldn't consider going younger, though. 'I do think that an 18- and 25-year-old together is unacceptable,' she said. She is particularly weirded out when she hears people talk about how their partner basically raised them or taught them 'how to be a woman,' as Beyoncé said to Jay-Z in a 2006 birthday toast that went viral recently. Mona is also wary of anyone who almost exclusively dates young people ― the Leonardo DiCaprios of the world. Every time the 49-year-old actor gets a new girlfriend, a graph highlighting the fact that each of his ex-girlfriends has been 25 or under starts circulating again. 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China releases AI action plan days after the U.S. as global tech race heats up
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