Overview
- Kesha denounced an official Feb. 10 White House TikTok that set her 2010 track “Blow” to footage of a fighter jet striking a ship under the caption “Lethality.”
- The clip has drawn well over 15 million views and roughly 2 million likes, with some outlets reporting more than 16 million views and over 500,000 shares.
- In posts on March 2, Kesha called the video “disgusting and inhumane,” said she does not approve of her music being used to promote violence, and labeled President Donald Trump a “criminal predator” while referencing the Epstein files.
- White House communications officials Steven Cheung and Kaelan Dorr publicly mocked her objections on X, saying artist backlash drives more views, after which Kesha replied, “Stop using my music, perverts @WhiteHouse.”
- The dispute reflects a broader pattern of government accounts using popular songs despite artist pushback and limited legal leverage on platform-licensed clips, with recent complaints from Radiohead, Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter and SZA as U.S. military action involving Iran intensifies scrutiny.