Katy Perry has slammed the White House over its use of her hit song "Fireworks" in a video showing U.S. military strikes in Iran.
The White House's official TikTok page posted a video on July 23 using the
2010 song as a backing track, using the lyrics "boom boom boom" over the visuals of military strikes and the caption "Iran has been warned."
The pop star condemned the use of "Fireworks" on X on July 25, writing that she was "deeply appalled and angry," and clarifying that she "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. 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," she wrote. "My music is for bringing people together, not celebrating warfare."
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. I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it.
— KATY PERRY (@katyperry) July 25, 2026
I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and…
USA TODAY has reached out to the White House for comment.
The U.S. military launched another round of strikes against Iran on July 23, U.S. Central Command confirmed on X, for a "13th consecutive night of strikes aimed to hold Iran accountable and diminish threats from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to commercial shipping."
President Donald Trump has continued to defend his administration's ongoing military campaign against Iran even after the House voted to end the war 214-208, while the Senate sided with the president in a 49-47 vote.
"We want to get it over with, and we want to do it right, but we have to … do what we came to do," Trump said at an event at the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C. "We can't let them have what they want, which is nuclear weapons."
Katy Perry joins pop stars condemning White House song use
Perry joins a list of musicians who have condemned the White House over its song use on social media.
Ariana Grande commented under a June 9 TikTok video posted by the White House depicting federal agents arresting and handcuffing people while featuring her 2024 song "Bye," according to reports by Reuters and The Guardian.
"Please do not ever use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense," she wrote. The audio and Grande's comment were later removed.
"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 a statement to USA TODAY on June 12.
Kesha, Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter have also slammed the White House's use of their songs for different videos without their permission.
After Trump posted a video on Truth Social on April 18 of her late father Frank Sinatra singing his hit song "My Way," Nancy Sinatra responded on X the next day, writing, "This is a sacrilege."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Katy Perry 'appalled' after White House uses 'Fireworks' for military ad
