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Lin-Manuel Miranda claps back at John Bolton’s Hamilton-inspired memoir title during Tonight Show freestyle rap

'John Bolton, aw man / I can't believe I have to respond to this / and beyond this, you should have ripped that s*** and testified before Congress'

Annie Lord
Wednesday 24 June 2020 09:37 BST
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Lin-Manuel Miranda burns John Bolton for that 'Hamilton'-inspired book title in freestyle rap

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Lin Manuel Miranda has weighed in on John Bolton using a Hamilton song title as the title of his memoir.

The former national security advisor announced last year that his memoir would be called The Room Where it Happened, which is a reference to the musical’s song “The Room Where It Happens”.

During a freestyle rap game on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show, Miranda was asked to lyrically riff off a number of random objects – including a Hamilton poster, a Broadway street sign, a box of popcorn, and a face mask.

When Fallon revealed a copy of Bolton’s book, Miranda groaned.

He then called out Bolton for not stepping up and testifying before Congress during Trump’s impeachment hearings.

“Oh no, not The Room Where It Happened. John Bolton, aw man / I can’t believe I have to respond to this / and beyond this, you should have ripped that s*** and testified before Congress.”

A few days earlier Miranda tweeted some tweaked Hamilton lyrics as a way of throwing shade at Bolton’s “cash-in book”.

Let me tell you what I wish I’d known

When I was young and dreamed of glory

You have no control

Who lives, who dies, who

[borrows your song title to write a cash-in book when they could have testified before Congress]

tells your story…

In the tweet, Miranda also provided a link to Fair Fight, an advocate for fair elections in Georgia.

The filmed original cast performance of Hamilton is arriving on Disney+ on 3 July.

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