Public Enemy rapper Chuck D has pleaded with social media users to stop using the group’s 1990 song “Burn Hollywood Burn” on videos of the wildfires that are ripping across California.
Chuck D issued the statement over the weekend, after several videos appeared on TikTok and Instagram using the protest song over footage of the disaster.
At least 24 people have died in the fires, which have scorched more than 40,000 acres.
California Governor Gavin Newsom described the wildfires – which have destroyed more than 12,3000 buildings so far and displaced more than 200,000 people – as the worst disaster in US history at the weekend.
“Burn Hollywood Burn is a protest song,” Chuck D wrote in a statement that he shared on Instagram. “Extracted from the Watts rebellion monikered by the magnificent Montague in 1965 against inequality when he said ‘burn baby burn’ across the air.
“We made mind revolution songs aimed at a one-sided exploitation by an industry. Has nothing to do with families losing everything they have in a natural disaster. Learn the history. Godspeed to those in loss.”
He added: “Please don’t use our song on your reels and pictures of this horrifying natural disaster.”
Many influencers have also been called out online for turning the wildfires into content opportunities, with some posting “get ready with me while I evacuate” videos, featuring them doing their skincare routines as they prepare to potentially leave their homes.
The fires have been worsened by a fierce windstorm known as the Santa Ana winds, which could return in the coming days, meteorologists have warned.
Several celebrities, including Paris Hilton and When Harry Met Sally star Billy Crystal, have lost their homes.
The largest fire is the Palisades, which has now burnt through more than 23,000 acres and is just 13 per cent contained.
Read more about the locations of the fires, from Eaton to Hurst, here.
