White House Doubles Down After Katy Perry Said She Was ‘Appalled’ By Use Of Her Song On TikTok

Topline

The White House fired back at pop star Katy Perry after she said she was “appalled and angry” by the use of her song “Firework” in a TikTok video boasting about military strikes, posting another video that uses her song “Part of Me” after the singer’s rebuke.

Key Facts

The White House posted a video splicing footage from Perry’s “Part of Me” music video, which features the singer in a soldier’s uniform, together with footage of military strikes and President Donald Trump.

“Now look at me 🦅,” the White House captioned the post, referencing lyrics from Perry’s 2012 hit.

The video, posted Monday evening, has garnered more than 700,000 views—not quite as many as the 7.5 million views the White House’s post featuring “Firework” garnered since it was posted over the weekend.

Perry has not yet responded to the White House using her music for the second time.

What Did Katy Perry Say About The White House Using “Firework”?

Perry, in a post on X on Friday, said she was “deeply appalled and angry to see ‘Firework’ used on the @WhiteHouse TikTok account as a backing track for video footage of military strikes,” saying she was not asked for permission and does not condone the use of her music. “To see a message of self-worth and upliftment weaponized to soundtrack destruction and violence is a complete violation of everything my song stands for,” Perry wrote, adding her music is not meant for “celebrating warfare.” Perry’s post was viewed 25 million times and received more than 260,000 likes.

surprising fact

“Firework” is no longer available as the song on the White House’s TikTok video. It’s unclear whether Perry intervened to request the audio no longer be used, as some artists have done under copyright law.

key background

Many artists have objected to the White House using their music without permission in social media posts. Most recently, Ariana Grande condemned the White House in June for using her song “Bye” to flaunt deportations, saying, “Please do not use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense.” Sabrina Carpenter also called out the administration for using her song “Juno” in a post that also advertised deportations, saying in a post on X: “this video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda,” garnering 1.7 million likes. Other artists, including Kesha, SZA and Olivia Rodrigo have also condemned the Trump administration for using their music without permission. The administration has also often used other intellectual property in social media posts, including one recent post that features a scene from “The Odyssey” and other posts that use imagery from games like “Pokémon” and “Wii Sports.”

further reading

Ariana Grande rebukes White House for using her music in ‘barbaric, inhumane’ ICE video (The Guardian)