Culture

Palestinian DJ Sama’ Abdulhadi says she “did not approve” the use of her image in a new ad from the Kamala Harris presidential campaign.

In a statement posted Tuesday (Oct. 22) to social media, the techno producer wrote that “the use of this footage was unauthorized and done without my consent. The use of this footage implies that I endorse Vice President Harris’s presidential candidacy, which is totally and utterly false; it is deeply offensive to my social, moral and political beliefs and is misleading political advertising by VP Harris’s presidential campaign.”

The commercial in question is titled “Detroit vs. Trump” and was released amid heavy campaigning by Harris and her running mate Tim Walz in the 2024 swing state. The ad contains footage of Adulhadi performing at Detroit’s annual Movement festival this past May.

“For the avoidance of doubt,” Abdulhadi’s statement continues, “I do not endorse nor have I ever endorsed, Vice President Harris, and I am taking the necessary legal steps to ensure that this video is promptly retracted, to dispel any notion of an association between myself and VP Harris’ campaign for the U.S. presidency.” In the caption, she writes that “I am Sama’ Abdulhadi, and I did not approve this message! I don’t endorse any US political party.”

Abdulhadi’s statement comes amid continued criticism of the Harris campaign by many Muslim and Arab Americans, given the Biden administration’s support of Israel amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. This conflict is estimated to have killed more than 40,000 Palestinians since the war began last October.

The New York Times reports that in an effort to win the votes of Arab and Muslim voters, the Harris campaign has “launched Facebook ads targeting Muslims, created WhatsApp channels and distributed fact sheets with Ms. Harris’s most forceful statements on the war in Gaza. And in private meetings in living rooms and basements across the country, including in the battleground states of Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania, campaign workers are trying to reach voters who say they may stay home, vote third party or even vote for former President Donald J. Trump because of the Biden administration’s policies in the Middle East.”

Green Party candidate Jill Stein commented on Abdulhadi’s post, writing, “Wow…unbelievable.”

Speaking at the Amsterdam Dance Event last week in the Dutch capital, Abdulhadi spoke on her position as a Palestinian artist. “The resistance is doing what the people in the Arab world and what the young people in universities are doing,” she said. “The people’s movement is the thing that is now pushing me to do things, and that’s why I’m still DJing. I would have literally quit the industry a year ago if it wasn’t for for that; if it wasn’t for the crowds that I’m getting now. Every gig I do now is a protest.”

With two weeks to go until Election Day on Nov. 5, many other artists are rallying around the vice president. Eminem is scheduled to make a rare public appearance Tuesday night at a Detroit rally for Harris, where he will reportedly introduce former president Barack Obama at the event supporting the VP and Walz.