METALLICA Shuts Down Pentagon’s Unauthorized Use Of “Enter Sandman” In Drone Video

The Pentagon has found itself in hot water after posting — and then swiftly deleting — a promotional video about expanded drone warfare under former President Donald Trump‘s administration that featured Metallica‘s “Enter Sandman” without permission. The video was later re-uploaded with no music after the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) flagged the unauthorized use. Though I’m not sure this administration gives a shit about legality, but anyway.

The now-revised video features former Fox News host and current Defense Secretary Pete “WhiskiLeaks” Hegseth delivering a speech about the U.S. military’s renewed focus on drone production and deployment. In the original version, Hegseth‘s remarks were set to “Enter Sandman,” an addition that many online immediately questioned, both for its legal status and its tone.

A representative for Metallica confirmed to Rolling Stone that the use of the song was not authorized by the band. The Pentagon acknowledged the copyright violation in a statement released Friday, saying: “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 video has been taken down, corrected, and re-uploaded to our page,” according to Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson.

To be fair to Hegseth, maybe he was too drunk and picked the wrong song.

The video itself is as vile as it is controversial. While Hegseth praises Trump‘s June executive order on “unleashing American drone dominance,” a quadcopter drone appears above his head holding what seems to be a blank piece of paper. He casually plucks it from the air, announcing, “Here’s the memo we’re signing today, delivered via drone,” before putting pen to paper.