Overview
- The White House’s official TikTok account posted a video showing U.S. military strikes set to the “boom, boom, boom” bridge of Perry’s 2010 hit, a post that multiple outlets say was published on Thursday.
- Katy Perry publicly denounced the use on Saturday, saying she did not approve it, calling the pairing a “complete violation” of the song’s message of hope and saying she absolutely does not condone it.
- Reporters noted the TikTok post remained on the White House account and the administration had not immediately responded to Perry’s criticism as of the most recent coverage.
- The episode follows recent objections from other artists, including Ariana Grande, SZA, Kesha and Sabrina Carpenter, who have criticized the administration for using songs without consent in posts tied to immigration enforcement or military imagery.
- Copyright and licensing rules for government use of commercial music are complex, and this incident raises political and reputational questions for the White House while increasing the likelihood of more public refusals and scrutiny of how official social media repurposes artists’ work.