Over the past couple of months, the White House’s social media accounts have drawn criticism from many celebrities over the unauthorised use of their music. From Ariana Grande, Céline Dion, Bruce Springsteen, and Sabrina Carpenter, many big names in the industry have called them out. Katy Perry is now joining the list as the White House recently shared a video on their account with her song, ‘Firework,’ playing in the background. The pop icon recently slammed their decision online to use her song without permission, saying she was “appalled and angry” about it.
Katy Perry calls out the White House for using her song ‘Firework’
Katy Perry took to her social media account on X (formerly known as Twitter) to share her distaste over the White House using her music for their videos. She called out the officials for using the song without explicit permission, further adding, “I am deeply appalled and angry to see ‘Firework’ used on the @WhiteHouse TikTok account as a backing track for video footage of military strikes. I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it.”A few days ago, on July 23, the White House took to their TikTok account online to share a video compilation of missile strikes. The clip contained Perry’s hit 2010 song ‘Firework’ in the background, with the video syncing with the lyrics “boom, boom, boom.” The video had been captioned with the words, “Iran has been warned.” The singer further shared that the song was made at the time as a way to spread hope; however, seeing her track “weaponised” while referring to the video, she condemned their decision to use her music.Perry’s tweet further read, “I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and inner strength for people going through their darkest personal moments. To see a message of self-worth and upliftment weaponised to soundtrack destruction and violence is a complete violation of everything my song stands for. My music is for bringing people together, not celebrating warfare.”
Other celebrities who called out the White House for using their music
Only last month, Ariana Grande’s song, ‘Bye-bye,’ was used by the White House on its TikTok account as background music for a video showing clips of ICE officers arresting individuals. The post had been made along with the caption, “Bye-bye President Trump has delivered the most secure border in history.”The 33-year-old had then called the account out for using her music, stating in the comments of the post that, “Please do not ever use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense. F*** ice.” Following her comments and public backlash, fans later pointed out that Grande’s song had been muted and removed from the online video.Another instance involved Kenny Loggins publicly calling out US President Donald Trump for using his song ‘Danger Zone’ in an AI video last year. The musician had slammed the president in an Instagram post and had written, “I request that my recording on this video is removed immediately. I can’t imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us. Too many people are trying to tear us apart, and we need to find new ways to come together.”Similarly, SZA and Kesha had also condemned the White House and the US president for using celebrity songs to garner attention and views on their posts. Kesha had also commented, “All these ‘singers’ keep falling for this. This just gives us more attention and more view counts to our videos because people want to see what they’re b******* about.”Some other celebrities who have called out the Trump Administration over the past couple of months for using their songs without permission include Linkin Park, Neil Young, Olivia Rodrigo, Céline Dion, Blue Öyster Cult, Bruce Springsteen, Sabrina Carpenter, and Radiohead, to name a few.
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