Ariana Grande has publicly called out the White House after a version of her 2024 song Bye was used in a TikTok post depicting ICE agents arresting and handcuffing people.
The singer commented directly on the post, making her position unambiguous.
“Please do not ever use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense,” she wrote, according to Reuters.
A spokesperson for Grande confirmed the comment to Variety, noting that it was “for some reason not publicly visible” on the post, and said her team was working to have the sound removed from the video.
The White House did not take the criticism quietly.
Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson issued a statement in response: “We’ll say this one last time: what’s actually barbaric, inhumane, and heinous are the criminal illegal aliens who have injured and murdered innocent American citizens.”
Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai went further, responding to Grande directly with a string of puns on her song titles.
“Save your tears, Ariana. Because President Trump’s actions ended Joe Biden’s inflation crisis and are bringing in trillions in new investment,” he said.
“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. Get well soon, Ariana!”
It is not the first time Grande has taken a public stance against the Trump administration.
In September 2025, she reshared a post on Instagram criticising ICE raids, transphobic rhetoric and other threats to democracy, originally written by activist Matt Bernstein as a pointed message to the former president’s supporters.
Grande, 32, previously supported Democratic nominee Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election and performed at the White House during the Obama administration in 2014.
She is currently on her Eternal Sunshine tour and is scheduled to perform at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena this Saturday.
