Celine Dion, the Canadian pop icon, has rebuked and mocked the Donald Trump campaign for unauthorized use of her hit song about the sinking Titanic as a musical interlude during a recent rally.
Dion, beloved by millions of people for her tear-jerking ballads, issued a strong and somewhat tongue-in-cheek statement on Saturday, a day after Trump played a video clip of My Heart Will Go On from the film Titanic at a campaign event in Bozeman, Montana.
A statement published on X and on Dion’s Instagram account, which has more than 8m followers, said: “Celine Dion’s management team and her record label, Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc, became aware of the unauthorized usage of the video, recording, musical performance, and likeness of Celine Dion singing My Heart Will Go On at a Donald Trump/JD Vance campaign rally in Montana.
“In no way is this use authorized, and Celine Dion does not endorse this or any similar use.
“… And really, THAT song?”
Today, Celine Dion’s management team and her record label, Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc., became aware of the unauthorized usage of the video, recording, musical performance, and likeness of Celine Dion singing “My Heart Will Go On” at a Donald Trump / JD Vance campaign… pic.twitter.com/28CYLFvgER
— Celine Dion (@celinedion) August 10, 2024
The song is featured in the 1997 Oscar-winning film about the 1912 shipwreck, though is more about love, loss and resilience than a large ship crashing into an iceberg.
The response on social media was mostly mocking.
“Perfect – because when your campaign’s headed for an iceberg, you might as well set it to music,” said a user named Marc Broklawski on X.
“Is Trump’s campaign being trolled from within?” wrote NBC Universal executive Mike Sington.
“For me it’s perfect for the Tumptanic!” said Antonio Cusano on Instagram.
Others were disappointed in Dion, who previously refused to perform at Trump’s inauguration after he was elected president in 2016.
“Too bad for her – it would be a positive thing. Sadly she doesn’t see it that way. I have been her fan for 30 years but I will have to respectfully disagree with her political beliefs,” wrote Heidi Joy on Instagram.
This isn’t even the first time a singer has pushed back on Trump using their music. In May 2023, Village People sent a cease-and-desist letter and threatened legal action after Trump used their song Macho Man and other hit songs without their permission.
In the letter, Karen Willis, the wife of Village People’s lead singer Victor Willis, wrote: “Since that time we have been inundated with social media posts about the imitation performance [which] many fans, and the general public as well, mistakenly believe to be that of the actual VILLAGE PEOPLE in violation of the Lanham Act.
“Therefore, the performance has, and continues to cause public confusion as to why Village People would even engage in such a performance. We did not.”
The Village People lead singer sent Trump a cease and desist over a performance of "Macho Man" at Mar-a-Lago: pic.twitter.com/meHYWMOjgf
— Aidan McLaughlin (@aidnmclaughlin) May 15, 2023
Many Trump supporters and observers have likely heard Trump’s use of the band’s song YMCA over the years, which Willis noted in the letter was previously “tolerated” by her husband and the band. However, as of May 2023, she said “we cannot allow such use by him to cause public confusion as to endorsement”.