Flavor Flav Ousted From Public Enemy After Bernie Sanders Rally Dispute

Flavor Flav has been ousted from Public Enemy!

On Sunday, the group announced they would no longer include the 60-year-old as a member. Per Rolling Stone, a band statement read:

“Public Enemy and Public Enemy Radio will be moving forward without Flavor Flav. We thank him for his years of service and wish him well.”

Public Enemy, known for songs like Fight The Power, was formed in 1985 and still features one other original member, Chuck D, in addition to Flavor Flav.

This ousting comes after Flav — born William Jonathan Drayton Jr. — sent a cease and desist letter to Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders concerning a rally that Chuck D was set to perform at over the weekend. In the letter, the rapper clarified he did not endorse any political candidate, despite marketing for the event made it seem as if the entire group was cosigning.

The letter, which accused Sanders of using “unauthorized likeness, image, and trademarked clock” was sent to his camp on Friday by Flav’s lawyer Matthew Friedman, and states:

“While Chuck is certainly free to express his political view as he sees fit — his voice alone does not speak for Public Enemy. The planned performance will only be Chuck D of Public Enemy, it will not be a performance by Public Enemy. Those who truly know what Public Enemy stands for know what time it is. There is no Public Enemy without Flavor Flav.”

The cease-and-desist continued:

“Flav … has not endorsed any political candidate in this election cycle.… The continued publicizing of this grossly misleading narrative is, at a minimum, careless and irresponsible if not intentionally misleading. It is unfortunate that a political campaign would be so careless with the artistic integrity of such iconoclastic figures in American culture.”

In a handwritten note at the bottom of the letter, Flav wrote:

“Hey Bernie, don’t do this.”

In a second statement to USA Today on Sunday, Friedman stated:

“Flav reached out in the interest of unity, supporting Chuck’s right to speak his mind but without unnecessarily misleading the public. Unfortunately, for the time being, Chuck has opted to fire off an increasingly unhinged series of tweets … Chuck may own the name Public Enemy but all you had to do was look at the masses of clock-wearing fans pouring out of the rally … to know that there is no Public Enemy without Flavor Flav.”

Meanwhile, Chuck D did fire off a series of tweets regarding the matter. In part, he tweeted:

“Spoke @BernieSanders rally with @EnemyRadio. If there was a $bag, Flav would’ve been there front & center. He will NOT do free benefit shows. Sued me in court the 1st time I let him back in. His ambulance lawyer sued me again on Friday & so now he stays home & better find REHAB”

“So I don’t attack FLAV on what he don’t know. I gotta leave him at the crib so y’all trying to fill his persona with some political aplomb is absolutely‘stupid’ Obviously I understand his craziness after all this damn time. Duh you don’t know him from a box of cigars or me either”

A lawyer for Chuck D — born Carlton Douglas Ridenhour — added (below), per Rolling Stone:

“From a legal standpoint, Chuck could perform as Public Enemy if he ever wanted to; he is the sole owner of the Public Enemy trademark. He originally drew the logo himself in the mid-80s, is also the creative visionary and the group’s primary songwriter, having written Flavor’s most memorable lines.”

Where do U stand in this mess, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF (below) in the comments with your take!!

[Image via WENN/Avalon & Sakura/WENN.]