Katy Perry Kristina Bumphrey/Billboard via Getty Images Katy Perry is speaking out after the White House‘s official TikTok account used her song “Firework” in a video showing footage of military strikes.
Posted Thursday, the video used lyrics from Perry’s 2010 hit “Firework,” from her Grammy-nominated album Teenage Dream, including “boom, boom, boom,” over clips of bombs exploding. The video’s caption read: “Iran has been warned.”
The singer took to X on Saturday morning to share her reaction: “I am deeply appalled and angry to see ‘Firework’ used on the @WhiteHouse TikTok account as a backing track for video footage of military strikes. I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it.”
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“I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and inner strength for people going through their darkest personal moments,” she continued. “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.”
Perry concluded her statement: “My music is for bringing people together, not celebrating warfare.”
I am deeply appalled and angry to see “Firework” used on the @WhiteHouse TikTok account as a backing track for video footage of military strikes. I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it. I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and…
— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) July 25, 2026
The singer joins a list of artists who have called out the Trump administration’s use of their music in political videos, including Ariana Grande, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Celine Dion, Kenny Loggins and more.
Earlier this year, Kesha condemned the White House using her song “Blow” on TikTok featuring fighter jets in the sky with the caption, “Lethality.”
“It’s come to my attention that the White House has used one of my songs on TikTok to incite violence and threaten war,” she wrote on Instagram and X in March. “Trying to make light of war is disgusting and inhumane. I absolutely do NOT approve of my music being used to promote violence of any kind.”
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