Tom Petty’s estate slams Kari Lake for ‘illegal’ use of song in ‘failed campaign’

The estate of the late rock singer Tom Petty slammed Kari Lake on Friday for her “illegal” use of one of his top songs in her “failed campaign” for governor of Arizona. 

The estate said in a statement posted on Twitter that it is exploring all legal options it has after the campaign used Petty’s hit, “I Won’t Back Down,” to promote Lake in her run for Arizona’s top office.

“The Tom Petty estate and our partners were shocked to find out that tom’s song ‘I Won’t Back Down’ was stolen and used without permission or a license to promote Kari Lake’s failed campaign,” it said. 

The estate said it wants to stop the allegedly unauthorized use and prevent any future misappropriations of the song. It also thanked fans who brought the campaign’s use of the song to their attention. 

The Arizona Republic reported that the campaign used the song in a YouTube video on Wednesday, but the video has been taken down. 

Multiple outlets, including The Associated Press, have projected that Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D) defeated Lake to win the governor’s race by about 0.6 points, but Lake has refused to concede so far. 

Lake has said she is assembling a legal team to collect “evidence and data” related to the electoral process. 

Lake’s campaign did not immediately return a request from The Hill for comment.

Petty’s family previously denounced former President Trump’s use of the same song at a rally in June 2020 while he was running for reelection, saying he had used it without permission.

Petty, who is known for a wide range of songs including “Refugee” and “Free Fallin’,” died in 2017.