Los Angeles: Singer-songwriter Katy Perry has criticised US President Donald Trump after the White House used her hit song Firework in a TikTok video featuring footage of US military strikes on Iran.

The video, which circulated on TikTok earlier this week, paired clips of the military action with Perry’s 2010 chart-topping anthem. The singer said she had neither been consulted nor given permission for the song to be used.

Katy Perry Says She Never Approved the Song’s Use

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Perry wrote, “I am deeply appalled and angry to see ‘Firework’ used on the White House TikTok 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 added that the song was created to inspire hope, healing and inner strength, and said using it alongside footage of violence was a complete contradiction of its intended message.

“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.

Joins Other Artists Criticising the Trump Administration

Perry had previously performed Firework outside the Lincoln Memorial during the televised inauguration celebrations of former US President Joe Biden in January 2021.

She is among several artists who have objected to the Trump administration’s use of their music in official social media posts. Last month, Ariana Grande also criticised the President after her song Bye was used in a TikTok video promoting US immigration arrests involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

Grande responded in a now-deleted comment, saying, “Please do not ever use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense. F** ICE.”*