Fact Check: Oliver Anthony Filed Cease and Desist Order Against Tim Walz to 'Stop Using My Song'?

Claim:

Singer Oliver Anthony filed a cease and desist order against Tim Walz for playing his hit song, "Rich Men North of Richmond."

Rating:

Originated as Satire ( About this rating? )

In August 2024, a rumor circulated online claiming that singer-songwriter Oliver Anthony filed a cease and desist order against Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for using his song, "Rich Men North of Richmond." The hit song previously topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two consecutive weeks in late August and early September 2023 .

Users shared this rumor in the days after U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced her selection of Walz as her 2024 vice-presidential running mate. The claims appeared to reference Walz playing the song at campaign rallies.

Numerous users on Facebook and X shared the rumor. One particular post ( archived ) on X displayed a meme with the words, "Oliver Anthony Files Cease and Desist Against Tim Walz: 'Stop Using My Song.'" Its text caption read, " They have some nerve just picking a song and running with it. 'They never asked my permission,' said Anthony, 'And I certainly don't approve.' Your thoughts?"

Some readers seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events. However, there was no evidence of Anthony sending a cease and desist order to Walz, nor did we find any news of Anthony's music blasted at Harris-Walz rallies.

Rather, the rumor about Anthony and Walz originated with America's Last Line of Defense (ALLOD) — a network of Facebook pages and websites that describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature. For example, the description of the America's Last Line of Defense page displays a "satire/parody" label, adding, "The flagship of the ALLOD network of trollery. Nothing on this page is real."

Further, one Facebook user pointed out ( archived ), "This meme is a great example of bulls*** trying [to] influence people. Walz, nor any Democrat, is using this man's song. In fact, it was used at the REPUBLICAN national convention." This user was correct, although with one correction.

Anthony previously addressed the fact Fox News played his song before asking a question of candidates at a Republican presidential primary debate — not a convention — in August 2023. He said in a YouTube video posted on his channel, "It was funny seeing it at the presidential debate, because it's like, I wrote that song about those people."

The Rumor Received at Least Tens of Thousands of Shares

On Aug. 11, a page manager for the America - Love It Or Leave It Facebook page — a subsidiary of the America's Last Line of Defense network — posted the same meme and text caption from the aforementioned X user's post. The post received over 55,000 reactions and 10,000 shares.

Meanwhile, a post made at the same time on Aug. 11 on the main America's Last Line of Defense Facebook page displayed the text caption, "Just like they stole 'no taxes on tips,' they tried to steal 'Rich Men North of Richmond.' Oliver Anthony put a stop to it." Both pages' memes displayed small "satire" labels on the images themselves.

America's Last Line of Defense and 'Taters'

America's Last Line of Defense has a history of making up stories for shares and comments in an effort to "troll" conservative users, whom they refer to as "taters."

The Dunning-Kruger Times' website – a website associated with the network of satire and parody — describes "taters" as follows:

"Taters" are the conservative fans of America's Last Line of Defense. They are fragile, frightened, mostly older caucasian Americans. They believe nearly anything. While we go out of our way to educate them that not everything they agree with is true, they are still old, typically ignorant, and again — very afraid of everything.

Our mission is to do our best to show them the light, through shame if necessary, and to have a good time doing it, because…old and afraid or not, these people are responsible for the patriarchy we're railing so hard against. They don't understand logic and they couldn't care less about reason. Facts are irrelevant. BUT…they do understand shame.

Snopes has addressed other satirical claims about Anthony in the past, including the assertion that he once turned down a $100,000 offer to perform at the Super Bowl, instead saying he would do it for free.

For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.

Sources:

"Billboard Hot 100 ^TM ." Billboard , https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/ .

Emery, David. "Did Oliver Anthony Turn Down $100K To Sing National Anthem at Super Bowl?" Snopes , 25 Aug. 2023, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/did-oliver-anthony-turn-down-100k-to-sing-national-anthem-at-super-bowl/ .

Heching, Dan. "Oliver Anthony Says He 'Hates' Seeing His Song 'Rich Men North of Richmond' Be 'Weaponized.'" CNN , 25 Aug. 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/25/entertainment/oliver-anthony-song-response/index.html .

"It's a Pleasure to Meet You - Part 2." YouTube , Oliver Anthony Music, 25 Aug. 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv9uMXiY29s .

Masquelier-Page, Alice. "Harris Selects Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as Running Mate, Aiming to Add Midwest Muscle to Ticket." The Associated Press , 6 Aug. 2024, https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/elections/2024/harris-selects-minnesota-gov-tim-walz-as-running-mate-aiming-to-add-midwest-muscle-to-ticket/.