American singer-songwriter Katy Perry has condemned the White House for using her song ‘Firework’ as the background music in a TikTok video showing US military strikes on Iranian targets.

In a post on X, the pop star said she condemned the use of her song, adding that she was “deeply appalled and angry” about it. She also clarified that she neither approved nor was asked for permission to use the track.

“I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and inner strength for people going through their darkest personal moments,” she said. “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.”

For Perry, the purpose of her music is to bring people together, not celebrating warfare.

The video captioned, “Iran has been warned,” has already gained over six million views on the platform.

Not the first time

Several artists have already expressed disappointment and condemned the White House for using their music in Trump administration propaganda videos.

Olivia Rodrigo called out the administration for using one of her songs for a government video promoting deportation efforts.

“Don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda,” she commented on the post that was later deleted.

Pop singer Sabrina Carpenter also experienced the same situation after her song ‘Juno’ was used in a Trump-posted video showing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers making arrests. She described it as “evil and disgusting” and told the administration to exclude her and her music from benefiting their inhumane agenda.

The unauthorized use of the artists’ songs for these types of videos also angered several singers such as Ariana Grande, Beyonce, Kesha, and Jess Glynne.

White House responds

Although the original track was removed from the video, the White House did not back down following the pop star’s criticism. Instead, it posted another video using Perry’s song ‘Part of Me,’ featuring clips of the singer taken from the song’s military-themed music video.

The post, captioned “Now look at me,” opens with Perry holding a weapon while dressed in military fatigues. In the White House’s edited version, footage of the singer is intercut with images of Donald Trump and fighter jets.

As of writing, the pop star has yet to respond to the newly posted video.

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