Pop superstar Katy Perry says she is “deeply appalled” over the White House using one of her hit songs in a recent TikTok post about the Iran war. The White House’s post from last Thursday originally had Perry’s song “Firework” playing over clips of explosions and strikes on Iran, with the caption: “Iran has been warned.” The audio has since been removed. Perry, 41, who has recently made headlines in Canada for her romance with former prime minister Justin Trudeau, expressed her disapproval of the use of her song. In her post on X shared Saturday, Perry said her music is not about “celebrating warfare.” “I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and inner strength for people going through their darkest personal moments,” Perry wrote. “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.” CTVNews.ca reached out to the White House Monday about the post, with a spokesperson pointing to an X post by Kaelan Dorr, principal deputy communications director and head of digital strategy for the Trump administration. In response to Perry’s criticism, Dorr wrote on Saturday: “This you?” with a link to a video clip of Perry singing “Part of Me” while wearing U.S. military garb. The song is from Perry’s 2012 reissue of her album “Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection.” The video depicts her enlisting and training with the United States Marine Corps. Despite Perry’s objection to the White House’s post, she doesn’t have full control over how her music will be used. Variety reported in 2023 that Perry sold her music rights to Litmus Music for what multiple sources said was US$225 million. The deal included “stakes in master recordings and publishing rights for the five albums she released between 2008 and 2020,” Variety reported. Artists push back against Trump Other artists have also complained about U.S. President Donald Trump and the White House using their music. Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen’s estate opposed the use of “Hallelujah” at a Trump rally in June. Grammy Award-winning singer Ariana Grande asked the Trump administration in June to stop using her 2024 song “Bye” to promote their immigration policy. Pop singer Sabrina Carpenter called the use of her song “Juno” by the Trump administration “evil and disgusting” in December 2025. With files from CTVNews.ca, Reuters and The Associated Press
