Following Flavor Flav’s cease and desist order issued to Bernie Sanders, Public Enemy has chosen to part ways with one of their co-founders and prominent hype-man. Chuck D announced the split on Twitter, explaining that the decision was not solely based on the group’s spat about Sanders’ presidential rally, which was held on Sunday (March 1).
“…My last straw was long ago. It’s not about BERNIE with Flav,” Chuck tweeted on Sunday (March 1). “He don’t know the difference between [former NFL running back] Barry Sanders or Bernie Sanders he don’t know either. FLAV refused to support [the Sankofa organization] after [founder Harry Belafonte] inducted us. He don’t do that.”
“If there was a $bag, Flav would’ve been there front & center,” he continued. “He will NOT do free benefit shows. Sued me in court the 1st time I let him back in. His ambulance lawyer sued me again on Friday & so now he stays home & better find REHAB.”
“I built [Public Enemy Radio] so it does benefits & fundraisers … He said he never gonna do them. So his refusal to do [Harry Belafonte’s] Many Rivers Festival in Atlanta 2016 was my last time. I built Enemy Radio to get far away from that,” Chuck concluded.
According to Rolling Stone, this isn’t the first time Chuck has accused Flav of being unwilling to do benefit shows.
“Flavor chooses to dance for his money and not do benevolent work like this. He has a year to get his act together and get himself straight or he’s out,” he said prior to the Sanders rally, the outlet reports.
Flav had initially issued the cease and desist order for Sanders’ campaign’s use of Public Enemy’s likeness in a promotional image for the group’s performance at his Los Angeles rally on Sunday (March 1). However, Chuck’s attorney maintains that the advertisement did not cross legal boundaries.
“From a legal standpoint, Chuck could perform as Public Enemy if he ever wanted to; he is the sole owner of the Public Enemy trademark,” his lawyer told Rolling Stone. “He originally drew the logo himself in the mid-80s, is also the creative visionary and the group’s primary songwriter, having written Flavor’s most memorable lines.”
Flav has yet to comment on the group’s split publicly.