Sabrina Carpenter criticized the White House in a Tuesday morning post for using her song “Juno” in a video posted on social media of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers detaining migrants, making her the latest pop singer to condemn the Trump administration for using her music.
Key facts
“This video is evil and disgusting. Don’t ever implicate me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda,” Carpenter said in a post on X.
The White House released a video Monday featuring an edited version of Carpenter’s song “Juno,” repeating the line: “Have you ever tried this one?”
Each time that line is repeated, the video shows a different clip of ICE officers detaining immigrants, some of whom were handcuffed, chased and pinned to the ground.
“Have you ever tried this? Bye 👋😍,” the White House said in the caption.
The audio had previously been used in a viral TikTok trend in which users satirically imitated different sexual positions each time the line “Have you ever tried this?” sounded, inspired by Carpenter’s performances of “Juno” on her tour, in which she imitated a different sexual position at each show.
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What other singers have criticized the White House?
In November, singer Olivia Rodrigo criticized the White House for using her song “All-American Bitch” in a video urging immigrants to self-deport. “Never use my songs to promote your racist and hate propaganda,” Rodrigo said in a comment on social networks. Singer Jess Glynne also criticized the White House for using Jet2holiday’s viral TikTok sound, which includes her song “Hold My Hand,” in a social media video about ICE deportations. “This post honestly makes me sick,” Glynne said, stating that her “music is about love, unity and spreading positivity, never about division or hate.” The band MGMT said on Instagram in October that it requested the removal of unauthorized use of its song “Little Dark Age” in a “propaganda video” of ICE agents detaining protesters. The video is still available on Instagram, but it no longer contains the song. Comedian Theo Von also criticized DHS for using a clip of him in a video in September. “I know you know my address, so send a check,” he said. “Please remove this and keep me out of your hit ‘deportation’ videos. When it comes to immigration, my thoughts and heart are much more nuanced than this video allows. Bye!”
Key context
Numerous artists have previously requested that Trump stop using their music during his presidential campaign. Beyoncé sent a cease-and-desist letter in August 2024 for using her song “Freedom,” while the estate of Tom Petty and Village People frontman Victor Willis also sent cease-and-desist letters calling for Trump to stop using their music. Other artists who criticized the use of their music in the Trump campaign include Céline Dion, Jack White, the estate of Sinead O’Connor and Neil Young.
This article was originally published on Forbes US
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