Beastie Boys are accusing Chili’s of committing the ultimate party foul on their legacy … using one of their songs without permission — and it happens to be their classic hit “Sabotage” at that!!!
According to court docs obtained by TMZ Hip Hop … surviving Beastie Boys members Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz and the late member Adam “MCA” Yauch‘s widow claim Brinker, the parent company of Chili’s, jacked the band’s iconic, 1994 music video for a commercial.
The lawsuit alleges Chili’s ran an ad on social media in November 2022, synchronizing the famous track and styling it after the Spike Jonze-directed video. The video featured three characters wearing the same conspicuous ’70s-style disguises as the Beasties … where they comically rob a Chili’s restaurant of its secret ingredients.
The band says they don’t license “Sabotage” or any of their songs to third-party advertisers, and claim MCA — who died in 2012 — had a provision in his will prohibiting such uses as well.
The Beastie Boys estate is asking for big-time damages and wants the court to order Brinker to take down the Chili’s ad.