Katy Perry has spoken out after the White House’s official TikTok account used her song “Firework” in a video showing footage of military strikes.
The video, posted on Thursday, uses lyrics from Perry’s 2010 hit, “Firework,” from her Grammy-nominated album. Teenage dreamincluding “Boom, Boom, Boom,” over clips of bombs exploding. The video’s caption read: “Iran has been warned.”
The singer took to Site
“I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing and inner strength for people going through their darkest personal moments,” she continued. “Seeing a message of self-worth and uplift using a soundtrack of destruction and violence is a complete violation of everything my song stands for.”
“My music is about bringing people together, not celebrating war,” Perry concluded.
I am absolutely horrified and angry when I see “Fireworks” being used on the @WhiteHouse TikTok account as a backing track to video footage of military strikes. I did not agree to this, I was not asked, and I do not agree to it at all.
I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and recovery.
– Katy Perry (@katyperry) July 25, 2026
The singer joins a list of artists who have criticized the Trump administration’s use of their music in political videos, including Ariana Grande, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Celine Dion, Kenny Loggins, and others.
Earlier this year, Kesha condemned the White House using her song “Blow” on TikTok, which shows fighter jets in the sky with the caption “Lethality.”
“I have learned that the White House used one of my TikTok songs to incite violence and threaten war,” she wrote on Instagram and X in March. “Trying to trivialize war is disgusting and inhumane. I absolutely do not agree with my music being used to promote violence of any kind.”
