Pentagon Scrubs Metallica Track from Hegseth Drone Video After Copyright Warning

(Associated Press)

The Pentagon was forced to scrub and repost a promotional video posted last week after Metallica successfully demanded the removal of one of their songs from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s “drone dominance” video.

The now-altered clip, initially posted on Thursday to the Department of Defense’s official X account, depicted Hegseth touting a new executive order from President Donald Trump aimed at cementing “American drone dominance.”

In the video, a drone whirrs toward the camera and drops off a memo, as Hegseth declares: “This is the future. We’re in the fight. We’re in the fight to win it. And we’re never gonna back down.”

Soundtracking the clip was Metallica’s 1991 metal anthem “Enter Sandman.” The track has since been removed from social media after the band objected to its unauthorized use.

“This afternoon, representatives from X reached out to DoD regarding a video posted to our social media page and asked that the video be removed due to a copyright issue with the song ‘Enter Sandman’ by Metallica,” the Pentagon confirmed on Friday. “The video has been taken down, corrected, and re-uploaded to our page.”

Metallica’s representatives confirmed that the music had been used without the band’s consent in a statement to Rolling Stone.

The video was initially met with mockery and backlash, panned by internet users as “cringe.”