Sabrina Carpenter, a pop star, has publicly criticized the Trump White House after finding out that her hit song “Juno” was used in an official ICE deportation video without her permission.
The Grammy-winning singer wrote a fiery post on X (formerly Twitter) saying that the 21-second clip was “evil and disgusting” and that the administration should never use her music to support what she called a “inhumane agenda.”
The official White House X account posted a video that has caused a lot of controversy. It shows a montage of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents chasing, tackling, and handcuffing people during raids across the U.S.
The song “Juno” by Carpenter, which is upbeat and came out in 2024, plays in the background. The viral line “Have you ever tried this one?” is used in the clip. — a line that she playfully pairs with pink fake handcuffs and cheeky dance moves at her concerts.
Carpenter is the most recent major artist to speak out against the Trump administration for using their music in videos about politics and immigration without their permission.
She follows Olivia Rodrigo, who criticized the White House for using her song “All-American Bitch” in a self-deportation ad, and Taylor Swift, whose music has also been used in pro-Trump videos even though she is known to be against Trump.
Experts in the law say that the White House can use copyrighted music in some cases of “fair use” or “government use.” However, artists like Carpenter can still publicly deny the connection and possibly take legal action for misleading endorsement.
The fight has gotten a lot of attention online because it brings up a lot of controversial issues, like celebrity rights, political messaging, immigration policy, and the morality of using pop culture to promote police actions.
