White House TikTok Used Ariana Grande Song to Score ICE Detention Footage

Overview

• The White House posted a TikTok this week that paired video of ICE agents detaining and handcuffing people with Ariana Grande’s 2024 song “Bye.”
• Ariana Grande replied in a comment on the post, called the imagery “barbaric, inhumane and heinous,” and asked that her music be removed from the video.
• White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson publicly defended the post’s message and described the detained people as “illegal immigrant criminals” who harmed Americans.
• TikTok later showed the post’s sound as “unavailable,” and multiple users reported that Grande’s comment could no longer be found, raising questions about deletion or hiding of criticism.
• The episode highlights a pattern of the administration using pop songs in short videos, prompts fresh debate over artists’ rights and platform licensing, and could increase scrutiny of how social apps handle politically contested content.