Ariana Grande has publicly called out the White House for a version of her song from 2024 Goodbye was used in a TikTok post depicting ICE agents arresting and handcuffing people.
The singer commented directly on the post, making her position unequivocal.
“Please never use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, disgusting nonsense,” she wrote, according to Reuters.
A spokesperson for Grande confirmed the comment to Blackand noted that it was “for some reason not publicly viewable” on the post, and said her team was working to have the audio removed from the video.
The White House did not take the criticism lightly.
Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson issued a statement in response: “We say this one last time: What is actually barbaric, inhumane and despicable are the criminal illegal aliens who have injured and murdered innocent American citizens.”
Deputy press secretary Kush Desai went ahead and responded directly to Grande with a series of puns on her song titles.
“Save your tears, Ariana. Because President Trump’s actions ended Joe Biden’s inflationary crisis and are bringing in trillions in new investment,” he said.
“He even signed an executive order like magic that cleared the way for the FTC to crack down on Ticketmaster for ripping off Ariana Grande’s concert-loving fans. Get well soon, Ariana!”
This isn’t the first time Grande has taken a public stance against the Trump administration.
In September 2025, she retweeted a post on Instagram criticizing ICE raids, transphobic rhetoric and other threats to democracy, originally written by activist Matt Bernstein as a scathing message to the former president’s supporters.
Grande, 32, previously endorsed Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race and made White House appearances 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 on Saturday.
