Ariana Grande hits out at White House for using her music in “barbaric” and “inhumane” ICE video

Ariana Grande has hit out at the White House for using her music in a recent ICE video online.

• READ MORE: Ariana Grande – ‘Eternal Sunshine’ review: a compelling mood piece

The clip was posted on TikTok earlier this week, and shows agents for the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement putting people in handcuffs, putting them into cars, and detaining the individuals.

It is soundtracked by Grande’s 2024 song ‘Bye’, taken from her seventh studio album ‘Eternal Sunshine’. “Bye-bye 👋 President Trump has delivered the most secure border in history,” the caption reads.

At the time of writing, the video has racked up almost 460,000 views on the social media platform, where it’s been ‘liked’ 21,000 times.

Grande soon commented on the post, writing: “Please do not use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense.”

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson has since responded, telling US media (via BBC News): “What’s actually barbaric, inhumane, and heinous are the criminal illegal ‌aliens ⁠who have injured and murdered innocent American citizens.”

Grande’s track has now been removed from the video, too.

@whitehouse

Bye-bye 👋 President Trump has delivered the most secure border in history

♬ original sound – The White House

Grande previously called out Trump and the White House last autumn, when she shared a post on Instagram condemning the administration for ICE raids and transphobic language.

White House Deputy Press Secretary, Kush Desai, responded to the criticism at the time by writing: “Save your tears, Ariana. Because President Trump’s actions ended Joe Biden’s inflation crisis and are bringing in trillions in new investment.

“He even signed an executive order just like magic that paved the way for the FTC to crack down on Ticketmaster for ripping off Ariana Grande’s concert-going fans.”

Grande supported Democratic nominee Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election. Following Trump’s historic victory to be POTUS for the second time, Grande wrote: “Holding the hand of every person who is feeling the immeasurable heaviness of this outcome today.”

In 2022, the pop star urged her fans to “reject him [Trump] with everything you have” after he announced he’d be running for US president again. She had criticised the “straight, white, old” presidential candidates in 2020, saying: “That’s not fair. You know? How! How will we get this right?”

#ArianaGrande slams the White House for using her 2024 song “Bye” in a TikTok that depicted ICE agents arresting and handcuffing people.
“Please do not ever use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense,” Grande responded in a comment. pic.twitter.com/yM459mhJ8t

— Lionais (@lionaishl) June 12, 2026

At the end of last year, the White House deleted a video featuring Sabrina Carpenter‘s music after the singer called it “evil and disgusting”. Olivia Rodrigo hit out at ICE for using one of her songs to soundtrack a “racist” self-deportation clip, too. “Don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda,” she wrote.

ICE videos using tracks by MGMT and The Cure were also removed in 2025 due to official takedown requests.

Earlier this year, the likes of Madonna, John Legend and Pedro Pascal signed an open letter calling for the closure of an ICE detention centre in Texas.

Other artists and celebrities who have spoken out against ICE’s actions include Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Green Day, Neil Young, Moby, Zara Larsson, musician and Stranger Things star Joe Keery, Spider-Man actor Yuri Lowenthal, Duran Duran, Dave Matthews and more.

Bruce Springsteen shared a powerful new song, ‘Streets Of Minneapolis’, in tribute to the city, and in protest against Trump and ICE, at the start of this year. Billy Bragg later released the track ‘City Of Heroes’, which he called “a tribute to the bravery of the people of Minneapolis”.

Celine Dion’s team stated that Trump used ‘My Heart Will Go On’ without authorisation at a rally, confirming that she “does not endorse this”. Jack White, meanwhile, warned the Trump presidential campaign not to use his music after a White Stripes snippet featured in a video.

In other news, Grande is currently out on her huge ‘Eternal Sunshine’ tour, which kicked off in Oakland, California, last Saturday (June 6). This August/September, the singer will host a huge 10-night residency at The O2 in London. Find any remaining tickets here.

Ariana Grande recently shared the fan-favourite song ‘Knew Better Part II’ to mark the 10th anniversary of her third album, ‘Dangerous Woman’.

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