Update 04/01/2020 10:38am:

Chuck D recently sat down with Talib Kweli for an episode of People's' Party, where he addressed firing Flavor Flav from Public Enemy after Flav's lawyer sent a cease and desist letter to Bernie Sanders’ campaign following news that Chuck would perform at his rally. 

During the sit-down, Chuck revealed that he used the situation to get attention, and he stated that Flav's firing was an April Fool's joke. He explained, "Flavor don't know the difference between Bernie Sanders, Barry Sanders or Colonel Sanders. We already talked about this beforehand. Public Enemy Radio went up, his lawyer sent a cease and desist, I'm like, 'Good move.' Then, publicly, I'm like, 'Man, you don't sue me again.' He ain't suing me. But I can say it! I'm not saying it's a hoax. I'm saying the original intention was to get your attention." 

In a separate interview with HipHopDX, Chuck D spoke about getting the idea for the hoax from Orson Well's 1938 War of the Worlds. He explained, "At the same time in February, I was watching the War of the Worlds documentary where Orson Welles used the apparatus of that time — radio — to flip the minds of those listening who really wasn’t fully paying attention to what he was saying. War of the Worlds was played out to be this big hoax. Now, I’m not saying our hoax was initially planned perfectly, but it kind of played itself out where Flavor’s lawyers and people would put a cease-and-desist on Public Enemy Radio, which I agreed to anyway. But I also said, ‘Listen, next time you bash me publicly, I’m going to bash you.'" 

He added, "He didn’t know he was getting kicked out, but he knew when he sent that letter, something was going to come back. When the cease-and-desist went out, it was a prime opportunity to answer back and say, ‘OK. Boom. You’re embarrassed.’

“Then I got together with Flavor and I said, ‘Listen man, this is how this has got to roll out, because I’m very upset that every time we do a good look — for 33 years now — that sh*t gets looked at as, ‘Oh, it’s not relevant’ or ‘Oh, it’s sleepy music, or whatever.’ But if people get a bad look, they get elevated every time? That’s a f**ked up thing and I’m going to actually use this as a teachable moment. When does important become as valuable as popular in a world on the edge of panic?”

Chuck then stated that he hijacked April Fool's day, "Before the world changed, we were just going to hijack April Fool’s Day and call it April Flav Chuck Day. We were going to hijack that and basically it was just a hoax. People would take it serious, but I’m saying, ‘No, I’m attacking the fact y’all were gullible and fell for it. I’m attacking it. And you know what? I knew it’d be 29 days of swimming in acid and of everybody saying everything. Even seeing people close to us, both me and Flav were looking at these people like, 'Mmm-hmm.'" 

Chuck went on to reveal that Public Enemy's new album, Loud is Not Enough, dropped on April Fool's, and he says the album "has the chance to be probably the most significant hip-hop record of our time."

Update 03/02/2020 7:26pm:

Flavor Flav took to Twitter to call out Public Enemy over firing him after a rift over the group performing at a rally for Sen. Bernie Sanders in Los Angeles ahead of "Super Tuesday," and the campaign insinuating the group was endorsing the Vermont Senator. Flav wrote, "@MrChuckD are you kidding me right now???,,,over Bernie Sanders??? You wanna destroy something we've built over 35 years OVER POLITICS???" following the tweet with another noting, "Also .@MrChuckD,,,i'm not on drugs like you're saying and have been clean for 10 years,,,i have battled addiction before and like millions of other Americans I know the massive toll it takes,,,Chuck you know better than to lie about shit like that,,,,"

Update 03/02/2020 9:46am:

Public Enemy released a statement on Monday (March 2), announcing that the group's co-founder Flavor Flav has been fired. This comes after Flav sent a cease and desist letter to Sen. Bernie Sanders after Chuck D announced that he was going to perform at a rally for the presidential candidate. 

Public Enemy's statement reads, "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." The statement added that Public Enemy will continue with their plan to perform at Sanders' 6 pm rally at the Los Angeles Convention Center. 

Chuck D clarified the group's statement on Twitter, stating that Flav "won't do free benefit shows," and he added that the famed hype man would've been up for the Sanders rally if he was getting paid. 

Update 03/01/2020 9:56am:

Previously, Flavor Flav called out Bernie Sanders for trying to use Public Enemy as part of what Flav calls a “fake revolution.” Now, Chuck D has responded to the comments Flav made about the upcoming PE show at the Bernie Sanders rally in Los Angeles.

Chuck D said “Flavor chooses to dance for his money and not do benevolent work like this. He has a year to get his act together and get himself straight or he’s out.” Chuck D’s attorney also said “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.”

source: HipHopDX

Original 02/29/2020 4:05pm:

News recently surfaced that Public Enemy will be playing at Bernie Sanders’ rally set to take place in Los Angeles. However, Flavor Flav has come out with some news on the situation at hand, even going as far as calling Sanders’ push to become president a “fake revolution.”

In a statement made to Billboard, Flavor Flav and his team said, “We have become aware that Flavor’s bandmate and Public Enemy co-creator, Chuck D, has endorsed Bernie Sanders’ candidacy for President and plans to perform at an upcoming Sanders Rally. While Chuck is certainly free to express his political views 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 legendary Public Enemy member’s team concluded by saying, “Flav has always delivered his authentic self. That authenticity compels him to speak out to ensure voters are not misled and that Public Enemy’s music does not become the soundtrack of a fake revolution."

source: Billboard