Warhol Foundation sends musical parody cease-and-desist letter to Ryan Raftery

They wanted his 15 minutes to be up.

Performer Ryan Raftery launched “The Trial of Andy Warhol,” his latest satirical celebrity “bio-musical,” at Joe’s Pub on Feb. 20 – but he was hit with a cease-and-desist letter by the Andy Warhol Foundation last week.

“Raise your hand if you just got a cease-and-desist from the Andy Warhol Foundation,” Raftery, who previously created outrageous parodies of Anna Wintour, Calvin Klein and Andy Cohen, wrote via Instagram on Friday.

The issue was apparently over images of Warhol’s artwork which Raftery projects during the show at the Public Theater.

A spokesperson for the Warhol Foundation told Page Six in a statement that the organization has a deal in place with another musical project.

The “bio-musical” had an LA artist create some Warhol-like images, including one of Jennifer Lopez.
The “bio-musical” had an LA artist create some Warhol-like images, including one of Jennifer Lopez.
Gabriel Gigliotti

“The Foundation has granted rights to use Warhol reproductions on an exclusive basis in conjunction with another musical,” the statement reads. “Upon learning of the Public’s plans, we notified them in December of last year that such rights would not be available due to our contractual obligations and respectfully reminded them again recently.”

Raftery revealed to Page Six that he’s “complying and removing the projections” and told fans that “the show will go on!”

A Kim Kardashian piece also makes an appearance in the show to replace the real Warhol works.
A Kim Kardashian piece also makes an appearance in the show to replace the real Warhol works.
Gabriel Gigliotti

Quick-witted Raftery instead had Los Angeles artist Gabriel Gigliotti create “obvious fakes” of Warhol-like works for the production, which runs through March 12.

The pop portraits include Warhol-like images of stars like Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian.

source: nypost.com