Exclusive
The father of the late singer Selena is going after a man planning a rally for Donald Trump at her memorial statue … threatening to sue if he goes through with it.
According to a cease and desist letter sent by Abraham Quintanilla, Jr.‘s legal team to Joe Michael Perez … Abraham owns the rights to his daughter’s name, image, likeness and trademarks.
He claims Perez is infringing upon all of the above by organizing his “Trump Supporter Gathering” at Selena’s statue in Corpus Christi, TX. It’s scheduled for July 11, and Perez is using Selena’s name and image to promote it on Facebook.
In the letter — obtained by TMZ — Selena’s dad says her name and “treasured legacy” have never been associated with partisan politics and claims Perez has associated her with Trump without permission by promoting his event … which features an image from last month of Perez putting a Trump hat on her statue.
Abraham also says linking Selena to a single politician — “particularly with the divisiveness and discord commonly attributed to Donald J. Trump” — is damaging to her brand and her name.
The letter also points to Perez using “Bidi Bidi Trump Trump” as a promotional slogan, claiming it infringes upon her famous “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” song … and accuses him of using her image to sell merchandise, as well.
Selena’s father’s warning Perez to delete his Selena-themed July 11 Facebook event page — and stop selling Selena-related gear — or else … a lawsuit’s on the way.
Perez tells TMZ, he’s ignoring the cease and desist letter and … “We are going to continue with our gathering on July 11 at the Selena Statue in Corpus Christi, Texas to show support for Trump for all races and ethnicities.”
Perez says he’s expecting at least 150 people.