Pop star Sabrina Carpenter on Tuesday demanded that the White House stop using her music in videos promoting President Donald Trump’s agenda after the administration’s X account overlaid clips from her hit “Juno” over videos of Latinos being arrested.
“[This] video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda,” Carpenter wrote in response to the White House’s Monday post.
The White House has repeatedly posted about its mass deportation push on social media, often using popular music or memes to celebrate its crackdown online.
Its Monday post used an edited version of Carpenter’s “Juno,” one of her most popular songs. In her concerts, Carpenter “arrests” an audience member for laughs while performing the song. The White House’s post showed clips of individuals being chased by immigration officials, slammed to the floor and handcuffed as Carpenter’s song plays.
Representatives for Carpenter did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Carpenter will pursue legal action to have the White House video removed under copyright.
In a statement to The Washington Post, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the White House would not apologize for what it posts.
“Here’s a Short n’ Sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter: we won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from our country. Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?” Jackson wrote, referencing one of Carpenter’s albums as well as one of her songs.
It’s not the first time an artist has pushed back after Trump, the White House and his political campaigns used copyrighted songs to promote the president and his agenda.
In November, singer Olivia Rodrigo criticized the Trump administration for using her song to promote a push for self-deportation. In a now-deleted comment, according to Rolling Stone, Rodrigo wrote, “Don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda.”
In October, singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins asked Trump to removean AI-generated video featuring his music. And rock band Semisonic objectedin March to the White House’s use of its song “Closing Time” in a video that featured clips of a shackled man being frisked and handcuffed individuals being led into a U.S. Border Patrol plane. The video is no longer available on the White House’s X page.
Trump facedtwo lawsuits during the last presidential campaign that accused him of illegally using copyrighted songs at his campaign rallies and in campaign videos. In both cases, Trump was found to haveusedthe artists’ music without permission.
It’s not just music. The administration also has used pieces of art and literature to promote its agenda, prompting artists or their estates to demand that the work not be utilized.
In November, the administration named its latest mass deportation campaign “Operation Charlotte’s Web” — the operation was being run in Charlotte. The granddaughter of E.B. White, author of the beloved 1952 children’s book “Charlotte’s Web,” said in a statement that the operation was against everything her grandfather and his work stood for, according to Politico.
Over the summer, the Department of Homeland Security shared an image of Thomas Kinkade’s “Morning Pledge,” a painting depicting children walking to a schoolhouse where an American flag towers in the yard. They captioned the image “Protect the Homeland,” prompting Kincaide’s family to oppose the art’s usage by the White House. Kinkade was deeply committed to humanitarian causes, a spokesperson for the Kinkade Family Foundation told The Post then, and his art felt starkly in contrast with DHS’s mass deportation campaign.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday posted a doctored image that showed Franklin the Turtle, a well-known children’s book character, attacking the crew of a narcotics vessel. The publisher of the Franklin franchise criticizedHegseth’s post Monday.
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