Pop Star Demands White House Remove Song She No Longer Owns

Clear Facts

• Katy Perry sold her music catalog, including “Firework,” for $225 million in 2023 to Litmus Music
• The White House used the song in a TikTok video about military strikes on Iranian targets
• Perry publicly objected to the usage despite no longer owning the rights to the song

Katy Perry publicly condemned the White House on Saturday for using her 2010 hit song “Firework” in a TikTok video showcasing recent military strikes on Iranian targets. The controversy highlights an increasingly common disconnect between artists’ stated intentions and the reality of catalog ownership in the modern music industry.

On Thursday, the White House TikTok account shared a video featuring black and white footage of military operations against Iranian targets, timed to the “boom, boom, boom” lyric from “Firework.” The caption read “Iran has been warned,” accompanied by a firework emoji.

“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,” Perry wrote. “I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it.”

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

However, Perry’s objections come nearly two years after she sold those very rights. In September 2023, the pop star sold her music catalog rights covering her first five studio albums to Litmus Music, a subsidiary of The Carlyle Group, in a deal reportedly worth $225 million. The agreement included her interests in master recording royalties and music publishing rights for albums including “Teenage Dream,” which featured “Firework.”

The White House responded through Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Communications Director Kaelan Dorr. In a reply to Perry’s post, Dorr shared a montage of clips from the music video for Perry’s 2012 song “Part of Me,” which featured the singer joining the U.S. Marines and undergoing military training alongside service members.

“This you?” Dorr wrote alongside the video.

Released in 2010 as the third single from “Teenage Dream,” “Firework” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and became one of the biggest hits of Perry’s career. The song’s success helped “Teenage Dream” tie Michael Jackson’s “Bad” as the only albums in history to produce five number one singles. Along with “Firework,” the catalog sale encompassed many of Perry’s other mega-hit singles, including “I Kissed A Girl,” “Hot N’ Cold,” “Roar,” “California Gurls” and “Dark Horse.”

Perry joins a growing list of artists objecting to Trump administration use of their music in official social media posts. Other musicians who have recently raised concerns include Ariana Grande, Kesha, Sabrina Carpenter, Céline Dion, and Bruce Springsteen.

In June, Grande criticized the Trump administration for using her song “Bye” in a TikTok video depicting Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests. The White House fired back at the “Wicked” star in a statement.

“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,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said.

In March, Kesha denounced the White House on social media after it used her 2010 hit “Blow” in a TikTok video showing a fighter jet launching a missile at a naval target. At the time, Dorr responded: “Kesha quotes are like Popeye’s spinach to this team. Memes? They’ll continue. Winning? Will also continue.”

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung also addressed the controversy on social media.

“All these ‘singers’ keep falling for this,” Cheung wrote. “This just gives us more attention and more view counts to our videos because people want to see what they’re complaining about. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

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