Ariana Grande Condemns White House Use of Her Music in Immigration Enforcement Video
US pop star Ariana Grande has demanded the White House cease using her music after a social media video promoting immigration policies featured her 2024 track, 'Bye'. The TikTok reel, posted on Monday, showed border agents placing individuals in handcuffs and escorting them into detention facilities. Its caption read: "Bye-bye... President Trump has delivered the most secure border in history."
Grande responded directly to the post, stating: "Please do not use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense."
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson countered in US media, asserting: "What's actually barbaric, inhumane, and heinous are the criminal illegal aliens who have injured and murdered innocent American citizens."
The video's release followed Donald Trump's enactment of legislation allocating over $70 billion (£52 billion) to immigration agencies for the remaining two and a half years of his presidential term. After Grande's comment, the White House video was muted, and her comment removed. Several users subsequently noted the disappearance of her remark and the muting of the audio.
Grande joins a number of artists who have previously instructed Trump's administration to refrain from using their music in political campaigns or promotional materials. Last year, Sabrina Carpenter similarly condemned the White House for using her song 'Juno' in a video depicting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations, stating: "do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda." Other artists, including ABBA, Céline Dion, and Beyoncé, have also previously prohibited the use of their music by Trump's campaign.