Ariana Grande spoke out against the White House using her 2024 single “Bye” in an immigration enforcement TikTok. The 14-second clip was posted on Tuesday, June 9, and featured ICE agents handcuffing and arresting people.
The caption read: “Bye-bye 👋 President Trump has delivered the most secure border in history.”
Grande replied Thursday in the comments. As CNN reported, she wrote: “Please do not use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense.” She also wrote “fuck ICE,” according to a screenshot posted by TMZ. Her snide remark and the music have been removed since.
A spokesperson for Grande confirmed to Rolling Stone that the singer wrote the comment. Reuters, quoting a source close to the singer, reported Grande’s team was looking into “how to remove the music from the video.”
The White House retorted quickly. Spokesperson Abigail Jackson told CNN: “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.” No apologies were offered for the unauthorized use of the song.
An Ongoing Issue
This was not the first time Grande has taken on the administration. She previously shared an Instagram post that read: Question to Trump voters: has your life “gotten better”? The White House responded then, with Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai saying, “Save your tears, Ariana.”
The Wicked star wore an “ICE OUT” pin at the Golden Globes in January. It now has new relevance, given the new strike.
Grande isn’t the first artist to find herself in this predicament. Trump is no stranger to taking popular music and using it without permission. But the act has intensified during his second term in office. It has intensified with posts on social media relating to his crackdown on immigration. SZA brought attention to her track being used in the same ICE video. She decried the approach as rage baiting artists for free promo. Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, and Kenny Loggins all voiced the same concerns.
But a little over a day following her show of force with the White House, Grande turned her attention elsewhere. On June 12, she announced the Brighter Days Ahead Foundation. It is a charity to support vulnerable communities by creating funds for grassroots organizations and nonprofits. The goal is to support LGBTQ+ rights, mental health care, reproductive rights, as well as emergency crisis relief.
Grande is also busy wading through it all in The Eternal Sunshine Tour, her fifth concert tour. It started June 6 at the Oakland Arena. Her eighth studio album, Petal, will release in July 2026. Between the tour, charity and the newfound political mélange, this is likely to be one of Grande’s busiest periods yet.
