The Beastie Boys filed a lawsuit against the owner of the Chili’s restaurant chain, Brinker International, in federal court on Wednesday over unauthorized use of the music group’s hit song “Sabotage,” from 1994, according to a report from Reuters. The band alleges Chili’s used the song on social media platforms starting around November 2022 and created videos inspired by the song’s incredibly popular 1990s music video.
The lawsuit, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters and published online, describes how the Chili’s social media video featured three characters wearing 70s-style wigs, fake mustaches, and sunglasses “who were intended to evoke the three members of Beastie Boys” while they were depicted robbing ingredients from a Chili’s. The scene included fake opening credits, “in ways obviously similar to and intended to evoke in the minds” the classic music video for “Sabotage,” according to the suit.
The music video for “Sabotage,” directed by Spike Jonze, was one of the most popular videos of the 1990s.
The Beastie Boys have never licensed their songs for commercial advertising and the late member Adam “MCA” Yauch, who died in 2012 from cancer, even explicitly stated in his will that the group’s songs shouldn’t be used in any ads, according to the suit. And the group argues that the public was “confused into believing that plaintiffs sponsored, endorsed and are associated with” the Chili’s brand thanks to the social media video. It’s not clear where the videos were posted, a fact not mentioned in the lawsuit.
The suit is seeking $150,000 in monetary damages for each copyright violation, as well as attorney’s fees and three times the profits brought in by Chili’s from the use of the song.
Attorneys for the Beastie Boys didn’t immediately respond to questions emailed on Thursday. Gizmodo also reached out for comment from Brinker International, the owner of Chili’s, and we’ll update this post if we hear back.
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