NEW YORK — The Beastie Boys have filed a lawsuit against the parent company of Chili’s, claiming the restaurant chain used the group’s 1994 song “Sabotage” without “permission or consent.”
According to the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in the Southern District of New York, the Grammy winning hip-hop group alleges Brinker International used “significant portions of the musical composition and sound recording” of the song in videos promoting the casual-dining chain on social media.
By doing so, the company led the public to believe the influential trio “sponsored, endorsed and (were) associated with” the promotion of Chili’s restaurants and products.
The videos, which ran on social media platforms in November 2022, featured three characters wearing “obvious 70s-style wigs, fake mustaches, and sunglasses” in an obvious attempt to “evoke in the minds of the public” shots from the music video for “Sabotage.”
