Katy Perry Condemns White House TikTok for Using ‘Firework’ Over Military Strike Footage

Katy Perry has publicly denounced the Trump administration after the official White House TikTok account used her 2010 single “Firework” as audio for a video showing U.S. military strikes against Iran. The pop star called the pairing “a complete violation of everything my song stands for.”

The nine-second clip, posted two days ago, shows unclassified footage of missiles hitting port targets, set to the song’s chorus — “Boom, boom, boom / Even brighter than the moon” — with the caption “Iran has been warned.” Perry responded Saturday on X, writing: “I am deeply appalled and angry to see ‘Firework’ used on the White House 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 emphasized that the track was written as “an anthem of hope, healing, and inner strength for people going through their darkest personal moments,” not to soundtrack destruction. “To see a message of self-worth and upliftment weaponized,” Perry added, “is a complete violation.”

This is not the first time the White House TikTok has drawn on music by artists publicly critical of Donald Trump. Earlier this month, the account used the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” — written by avowed Trump critic Jack White — in another military-themed post. For Perry, the unauthorized use underscores a widening gap between an artist’s intent and how their work can be co-opted by political machinery without consent.