Sabrina Carpenter slams ‘evil and disgusting’ ICE video that uses her song

Sabrina Carpenter has spoken out against Donald Trump’s White House for using her song Juno to soundtrack videos of immigration raids.

In response to a video posted on the official White House X account, which depicts Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) officials arresting several people in what appears to be Chicago, the singer wrote: “this video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.”

The White House has repeatedly used popular songs, often tied to memes, in their social media content putting a glossy spin on raids that have spurred protests across the country. The latest video layers the most viral lyric from Juno – “Have you ever tried this one?” Carpenter asks, referring to sex positions – over several clips of ICE agents chasing, tackling and handcuffing different people, only some of whom have their faces blurred.

Earlier this month, the White House used the same formula on Carpenter’s friend and collaborator Taylor Swift. That video used Swift’s recent track The Fate of Ophelia over a montage of Trump’s many social media posts disparaging the megastar, who endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Swift has not publicly commented to the president’s use of her music.

The White House continued to invoke Carpenter’s music in a statement on her comments. “Here’s a Short n’ Sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter: we won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from our country. Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?” said White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson, referencing Carpenter’s 2024 album Short n’ Sweet and her recent single Manchild.

Carpenter joins many other artists, from Beyoncé to the Foo Fighters, who have condemned the Trump team’s use of their music for promotional purposes, and is the latest to be embroiled in the Trump administration’s efforts to put a cheeky spin on its immigration crackdown. Earlier this month, pop singer Olivia Rodrigo reportedly condemned the Department of Homeland Security’s use of her song all-american bitch to soundtrack a video encouraging undocumented people to voluntarily leave the US. “Don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda,” she wrote in now deleted posts on social media.

Weeks prior, Kenny Loggins blasted the administration’s use of his song Danger Zone in a widely decried, AI-generated video depicting Trump dumping human feces on protesters in New York City. In a statement posted to his website, Loggins said he did not authorize the use of the song for the video, widely considered to be Trump’s retort to the nationwide No Kings protests against his second presidency.

“Nobody asked for my permission, which I would have denied, and I request that my recording on the video is removed immediately,” he said. “I can’t imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us. Too many people are trying to tear us apart, and we need to find new ways to come together.”

Earlier this summer, the British singer Jess Glynne was more blunt, after the White House used her 2015 single Hold My Hand – re-popularized by the viral Jet2 holiday advert – to soundtrack a video promoting its many ICE deportations. “This post honestly makes me sick,” she wrote on social media.

“I’m devastated to see my song used in this way,” she later told the Guardian. “Hold My Hand was written about love, support, and standing by someone through everything – it’s meant to offer hope and empowerment. Using it to promote something I fundamentally disagree with goes completely against the message of the song.” Jet2 also condemned the video, saying it was “disappointed to see our brand being used to promote government policy such as this”.

As with the video using Carpenter’s song, the White House posted the Glynne song clip to its official social media channels, along with the caption: “When ICE books you a one-way Jet2 holiday to deportation. Nothing beats it!”

In the 10 months since Trump took office for a second time, the US president has supercharged the country’s immigration enforcement, authorizing a sweeping system of mass arrests, incarcerations and deportations. Human rights experts have raised numerous concerns about the detention of children with their parents, as well as the arrest of people without charge or due process. Official White House social media posts often celebrate these arrests and the fear they have instilled in immigrant communities across the country, as part of what Trump claims is an effort to fight violent crime.

Though Trump has maintained that his administration seeks to deport “dangerous criminals”, Guardian analysis has found that most of the people arrested by ICE have never been convicted of a crime.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration announced a total pause in asylum decisions, leaving 1.5 million people seeking residence in legal limbo. As part of his immigration system crackdown, Trump has vowed to “permanently pause” migration from “third world” countries, in response to the shooting of two national guard members in DC by a suspect who is an Afghan national.