Jonny Greenwood requests to pull his music from 'Melania' movie, claims "A breach of composer agreement"
Andrew Benge/Redferns

Jonny Greenwood requests to pull his music from 'Melania' movie, claims "A breach of composer agreement"

Jonny Greenwood, Radiohead member and long-time composer for director Paul Thomas Anderson, formally requested that Amazon MGM's Melania documentary pull scenes from the film that include his music. He and Anderson filed a joint statement earlier today claiming the First Lady's movie used a segment from his 2017 Phantom Thread score, and Universal failed to consult him for permission, thus violating a composer agreement contract.

“It has come to our attention that a piece of music from Phantom Thread has been used in the Melania documentary,” said both Greenwood and Anderson in their official statement, as published in Variety. They clarified that only Universal owns the copywright to Greenwood's score, but they signed an agreement that requires his permission for third party use. "Universal failed to consult Jonny on this third-party use, which is a breach of his composer agreement," the two wrote. "As a result, Jonny and Paul Thomas Anderson have asked for it to be removed from the documentary.”

The documentary about First Lady Melania Trump included a long portion of the "Barbara Rose", per Pitchfork.

Jonny Greenwood received an Oscar nomination for the Phantom Thread score in 2017, losing to Alexandre Desplat's The Shape of Water. Greenwood is up for nomination again this year for his original composition of Anderson's One Battle After Another.

Victoria Borlando

New York, NY

freelance music journalist and critic

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