Beastie Boys Slap The Owner of Chili’s With A Lawsuit Over Unauthorized Use of “Sabotage” In Ads
Written by djfrosty on July 12, 2024
Source: BERTRAND GUAY / Getty / Beastie Boys
The Beastie Boys are not here for their iconic hit record being used by the owner of Chili’s.
Spotted on Variety, The Beastie Boys have sued restaurant chain Brinker International Inc., owner of 30 Chili’s restaurants in New York, over the unauthorized use of their song “Sabotage” and the commercials referencing the classic single’s music video without the group’s permission.
Per Variety:
The suit, filed in New York federal court, claims that Brinker facilitated the creation of social media videos to promote Chili’s starting in or around November 2022.
In addition to claims that the sound recording for “Sabotage” was used without authorization, the complaint alleges that the ads resemble the Spike Jonze-directed music video for “Sabotage,” which featured Beastie members Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz, Adam “MCA” Yauch and Michael “Mike D” Diamond starring in a fictional 1970s-style police show called “Sabotage.” The social media advertisements for Chili’s also depicted three characters in similar 1970s-style outfits “robbing” ingredients from a Chili’s restaurant.
According to the website, the suit alleges the Beastie Boys will continue to suffer damages in an unknown amount and claims that Brinker “willful disregard of the harm to plaintiffs.”
Variety reports the Beastie Boys want a permanent injunction, $150,000 in statutory damages in each case of copyright violation, attorney fees, three times the profits from false representations and use of its trademarks, plus more.