The Beastie Boys are accusing Chili’s of committing the greatest crime ever against their legacy… using one of their songs without permission — and it happens to be their classic hit “Sabotage”!!!
According to court documents obtained by TMZ Hip Hop… surviving members of the Beastie Boys Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz and the deceased member Adam “MCA” Yauch‘s widow claims that Brinker, the parent company of Chili’s, hijacked the band’s iconic 1994 music video for a commercial.
The lawsuit alleges that Chili’s ran an ad on social media in November 2022 lip-syncing the famous track and styling it after the Spike Jonze– directed video. The video featured three characters wearing the same flashy 70s-style disguises as the Beasties… as they comically steal the secret ingredients from a Chili’s restaurant.
The band says it does not license “Sabotage” or any of its songs to third-party advertisers and claims that MCA — who died in 2012 — had a clause in his will prohibiting such uses as well.
The Beastie Boys estate is seeking massive damages and wants the court to order Brinker to pull the Chili’s ad.