Which filmmaker directed the Beastie Boys’ 1987 music video for “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)”?

Ric Menello and Adam Dubin directed the Beastie Boys’ 1987 video for “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!).”

The clip presents a deliberately exaggerated apartment party that spirals into comic disorder. The Beastie Boys perform as unruly partygoers while actors including Donald Trump, LL Cool J, and the band’s friends appear among the guests. Its broad style helped establish the group’s irreverent early image on MTV.

Adam Dubin directed the video, while Ric Menello co-wrote and co-directed it. Menello had worked with the Beastie Boys on their early visual material, and the video reflected the group’s connection to New York’s emerging hip-hop and punk scenes.

A frequent attribution error credits Spike Jonze, who later directed several celebrated Beastie Boys videos, including “Sabotage” in 1994. Jonze was not the director of this 1987 party video. The distinction matters because the two filmmakers’ work with the group belongs to different stages of the band’s career.