“Weird Al” Yankovic took to Twitter on Monday to confirm he’s trademarked his name to avoid being mixed up with any other Als.
The American parodist, 58, announced that he had renewed the trademark certificate after the likes of Al Franken, who was recently accused of sexual misconduct, hit headlines under the same title.
Al, whose real name is Alfred Matthew Yankovic, posted: “If you really feel compelled to insult Franken, Sharpton, Gore, Roker, or Pacino… PLEASE CHOOSE A DIFFERENT NICKNAME.”
However, he later admitted that he’d shared the post as a joke, insisting it’s just “extremely uncool” to use his name alongside a picture showing Franken groping radio host Leeann Tweeden’s breasts.
Weird Al’s latest posts come after he spoke about changing things up before he hits the road in 2018 with his Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour.
Confirming that there will be none of his usual costumes, props or video screens, the star said, “It was sort of an epiphany near the very end of the last tour. I think I was in the middle of putting on my ‘Fat’ suit for the thousandth time and getting ready to go back onstage.”
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“I was thinking, ‘Gosh, next time I go on tour I don’t know if I want to be doing this. I think I need to take a break from all the theatrics. Wouldn’t it be nice to just do a really scaled down, low-key, casual show for the hardcore fans and just go out and be musicians?’” he told Rolling Stone.