Hamilton Issues Cease-and-Desist Letter to Church for Illegally Performing Homophobic Version of Hit Broadway Show
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Hamilton issued a cease-and-desist letter to a Texas church for illegally performing the hit Broadway musical with a homophobic twist.
The Door McAllen church in McAllen, Tex., put on its unlawful version of the show on Friday night, according to Hamilton writer Howard Sherman. It also had a show on Saturday.
“Last night, The Door McAllen Church in McAllen TX committed a blatant copyright violation by performing and live-streaming their own production of @HamiltonMusical, which is not licensed for any productions. They changed text and tacked on a sermon including anti-LGBTQ message,” posted Sherman in a Twitter thread.
“Jesus gives me the strength to pull through when I needed him most he was right on time” is not part of @HamiltonMusical but The Door McAllen put those words in Eliza [Hamilton]’s mouth last night and they plan to do it again tonight. Tacked on sermon talks about sin. This is illegal.”
“Jesus gives me the strength to pull through when I needed him most he was right on time” is not part of @HamiltonMusical but The Door McAllen put those words in Eliza’s mouth last night and they plan to do it again tonight. Tacked on sermon talks about sin. This is illegal. pic.twitter.com/G1MnXhRDvQ
— Howard Sherman (@HESherman) August 6, 2022
The church’s rendition ends with a homophobic speech by the church’s pastor, Victor Lopez.
“[God] knows exactly what you’ve gone through,” Lopez said. “You’ve gone through maybe broken marriages. Maybe you struggle with alcohol, with drugs, with homosexuality. Maybe you struggle with other things in life, your finances, whatever, God can help you tonight.”
This is how The Door McAllen church concluded its illegal production of Hamilton: with a sermon demonizing homosexuality. pic.twitter.com/FXpw8ycvbb
— Hemant Mehta (@hemantmehta) August 7, 2022
“Hamilton does not grant amateur or professional licenses for any stage productions and did not grant one to The Door Church,” Hamilton spokesperson Shane Marshall Brown told The Washington Post. “We issued a cease-and-desist letter for the unauthorized use of Hamilton’s intellectual property, demanding the immediate removal of all videos and images from previous productions from the internet, including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, their own website, and elsewhere.”
The award-winning Hamilton debuted in 2015 and is inspired by historian Ron Chernow’s biography Alexander Hamilton. It’s now available on Disney+.
