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Katy Perry blasted the White House for using her hit 2010 song “Firework” in a TikTok video without her permission, years after the pop star sold the majority of her music catalog in a reported $225 million deal.
On Thursday, the White House TikTok account shared a video featuring black and white footage of recent military strikes on Iranian targets, timed to the “boom, boom, boom” lyric from “Firework.”
“Iran has been warned,” the caption read, along with a firework emoji.
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In an X, formerly Twitter, post that she shared on Saturday, the 41-year-old pop star condemned the inclusion of her song in the clip.
“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,” Perry wrote. “I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it.”
Katy Perry slammed the White House for using her song “Firework” in a military strikes video. (Sergione Infuso/Corbis via Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and inner strength for people going through their darkest personal moments,” she continued. “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.”
“My music is for bringing people together, not celebrating warfare,” Perry concluded.
The White House’s post comes as President Donald Trump’s administration remains locked in a tense standoff with Iran following recent U.S. military strikes and ongoing diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation.
When reached for comment, the White House directed Digital to an X post by Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Communications Director Kaelan Dorr.
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In a reply to Perry’s post, Dorr shared a montage of clips from the music video for the singer’s 2012 song “Part of Me” in which the 13-time Grammy Award nominee was seen joining the U.S. Marines and undergoing military training alongside other service members.
“This you?” Dorr wrote alongside the video.
In September 2023, Perry sold her music catalog rights covering her first five studio albums to Litmus Music, a subsidiary of The Carlyle Group, in a deal reportedly worth $225 million. The agreement included her interests in the master recording royalties and music publishing rights for “One of the Boys” (2008), “Teenage Dream” (2010), “PRISM” (2013), “Witness” (2017) and “Smile” (2020).
Released in 2010 as the third single from “Teenage Dream,” “Firework” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and became one of the biggest hits of her career. The song’s success helped “Teenage Dream” tie Michael Jackson’s “Bad” as the only albums in history to produce five number one singles.
Perry sold the majority of her music catalog including “Firework” in 2023 for a reported $225 million. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Along with “Firework,” the sale also encompassed many of Perry’s other mega-hit singles, including “I Kissed A Girl,” “Hot N’ Cold,” “Roar,” “California Gurls” and “Dark Horse.”
Perry is the latest artist to clash with the Trump administration over the use of their songs in official social media posts. Other musicians who have recently objected include Ariana Grande, Kesha, Sabrina Carpenter, Céline Dion, Bruce Springsteen and others.
In June, Grande slammed the Trump administration for using her song “Bye” in a TikTok video depicting Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests, writing in the comments section: “please do not ever use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense. f– ice.”
The White House later fired back at the “Wicked” star in a statement shared with Digital.
“We’ll say this one last time: what’s actually barbaric, inhumane, and heinous are the criminal illegal aliens who have injured and murdered innocent American citizens,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said.
However, the song was later removed from the video.
Perry is the latest artist to clash with the Trump administration for using their music in social media videos. (Getty Images)
In March, Kesha denounced the White House on social media after it used her 2010 hit “Blow” in a TikTok video showing a fighter jet launching a missile at a naval target, saying the administration was using her music to “incite violence and threaten war.”
“Trying to make light of war is disgusting and inhumane,” Kesha wrote on X.
The “Die Young” singer said she “absolutely” does not “approve of my music being used to promote violence of any kind.”
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Ariana Grande previously blasted the White House for using her song “Bye” in a TikTok video depicting Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
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“Love always trumps hate. Please love yourself and each other in times like this. This show of blatant disregard for human life and, quite frankly, this attack on all of our nervous systems is the opposite of what I stand for,” the post continued.
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At the time, Dorr responded in an X post in which he wrote, “Kesha quotes are like Popeye’s spinach to this team. Memes? They’ll continue. Winning? Will also continue.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung also spoke about the topic on X, writing, “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—-ing about. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
