John Fogerty has taken to social media to slam the film “Proud Mary” for using the title of his hit 1969 song without his consent.
The 72-year-old shared a statement via his Facebook page Thursday in reference to the movie, which stars Taraji P. Henson as a hitwoman working for an organized crime family in Boston.
Fogerty says he wrote “Proud Mary” 50 years ago and was “very excited to have written such a song,” at the time, adding: “My songs are special to me. Precious.”
“It irks me when people seek to capitalize on the popularity of my music and the good will it has earned with the public for their own financial gain.”
Fogerty added in the lengthy message that the “movie has nothing to do with me, or my song.”
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The film’s promotional poster is also said to include some of the star’s lyrics, which have been changed to read: “Killing for the man every night and day.” The original lyric is “Working for the man every night and day.”
However, Fogerty insists his track is “far from a story about killing people for money.”
“I wrote the song about a mythical riverboat, cruising on a mythical river, in a mythical time. Perhaps, the setting was ‘back in time’ on the Mississippi River. It was obviously a metaphor about leaving painful, stressful things behind for a more tranquil and meaningful life.”
Production company Screen Gems has since released a statement to ET Canada, which read: “We would love Mr. Fogerty to come see the film. He would see that his complaint that the film has nothing to do with the song’s message as ‘a metaphor about leaving painful, stressful things behind for a more tranquil and meaningful life’ is inaccurate. That is precisely what our Mary is looking to do, and Taraji nails it perfectly.”
“Proud Mary” is in theatres now. Fogerty’s rep confirmed to Rolling Stone that the singer is not pursuing legal action.
