Victor Willis, a founding member of the Village People, defended President-elect Donald Trump's use of the song "Y.M.C.A." during campaign rallies leading up to the November election.
Taking to Facebook, the 76-year-old singer-songwriter said Trump acquired the necessary BMI license to use the song. Willis decided not to withdraw permissions because Trump seemed "to genuinely like" the song and was "having a lot of fun with it."
"I simply didn't have the heart to prevent his continued use of my song in the face of so many artists withdrawing his use of their material," Willis wrote. "So I told my wife to inform BMI to not withdraw the Trump campaign political use license."
Trump's use of the song had actually led to significant financial gains, Willis wrote, noting that "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," he wrote.
In his post, Willis also set the record straight on the song's status as a "gay anthem."
"As I've said numerous times in the past, that is a false assumption based on the fact that my writing partner was gay, and some (not all) of Village People were gay, and that the first Village People album was totally about gay life," he wrote.
"This assumption is also based on the fact that the YMCA was apparently being used as some sort of gay hangout and since one of the writers was gay and some of the Village People are gay, the song must be a message to gay people. To that I say once again, get your minds out of the gutter. It is not."
Concluding his post, Willis wrote, that the "true anthem is Y.M.C.A.'s appeal to people of all strips including President Elect Trump."
"But the song is not really a gay anthem other than certain people falsely suggesting that it is," he added. "And this must stop because it is damaging to the song."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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