'Deeply appalled and angry': Katy Perry slams White House over use of 'Firework' in military strikes video

Singer-songwriter Katy Perry has criticised the White House for using her 2010 hit Firework in a TikTok video featuring footage of military strikes, saying the song was used without her permission and in a way that contradicts its original message.

The White House's official TikTok account shared a video earlier this week synchronising the song's "boom, boom, boom" lyrics with black-and-white footage of bombing. The post carried the caption: "Iran has been warned."

Responding on X, Perry said she was "deeply appalled and angry" over the unauthorised use of her music.

"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," she wrote.

The 41-year-old singer said Firework was created as "an anthem of hope, healing, and inner strength" for people navigating difficult periods in their lives, and argued that pairing it with scenes of warfare undermined its purpose.

"I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and inner strength for people going through their darkest personal moments. To see a message of self-worth and upliftment weaponised to soundtrack destruction and violence is a complete violation of everything my song stands for," she said.

Perry concluded her statement by reiterating the intention behind her music, saying, "My music is for bringing people together, not celebrating warfare."

Released as the third single from her 2010 album Teenage Dream, Firework became one of Perry's biggest hits, spending four non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Perry is the latest artist to object to the Trump administration's use of music in political and government-related social media content without authorisation.

Last month, Ariana Grande criticised the White House after her 2024 track Bye was used in a TikTok video promoting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents carrying out arrests. Earlier this year, Kesha also objected to the use of her song Blow in a White House TikTok featuring fighter jets and military strike footage with the caption "Lethality", stating that the music had been used without her permission.