The White House posted a video on TikTok Thursday showing footage of U.S. military strikes on Iran, set to Katy Perry's 2010 hit "Firework." The caption read "Iran has been warned" followed by a fireworks emoji. Within hours, Perry — who has 195 million Instagram followers — issued a public statement saying she was "deeply appalled."
The song is literally called "Firework." The video showed fireworks. The outrage writes itself, just not in the direction she intended. https://publish.x.com/?url=
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"I am deeply appalled and angry to see 'Firework' used on the @WhiteHouse TikTok account," Perry wrote. "I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it." She added: "I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and inner strength. My music is for bringing people together, not celebrating warfare."
An anthem of hope and inner strength. The chorus is "baby, you're a firework, come on show 'em what you're worth, as you shoot across the sky." It's a pop song about feeling special. The White House communications team saw an opportunity and took it. The internet saw the irony and laughed. Perry saw a chance to remind everyone she exists and grabbed it.
This is the same Katy Perry who endorsed Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris. The same Perry who posted anti-ICE content back in January. The same Perry currently dealing with an Australian police investigation into sexual assault allegations brought by actress Ruby Rose in April. Her moral authority on the subject of what's "appalling" has seen better days.
The White House used an Olivia Rodrigo song in an ICE enforcement video back in June, and the pro-abortion pop singer was reportedly "enraged" by that too. The playbook is clear: take a pop song, put it over footage of the government doing its job, and wait for the celebrity meltdown to generate a news cycle that makes the administration look fun and their critics look hysterical.
It works because the response is always the same. The celebrity can't just ignore it — that would mean letting the association stand. So they issue the statement, which draws more attention to the video, which gets more shares, which means more people see footage of successful military strikes set to catchy music. The White House gets millions in free media impressions. The pop star gets to feel important. Everyone wins, sort of.
Perry's statement that she "did not approve this" and "was not asked" raises an interesting question about what she thinks TikTok fair use looks like. The White House didn't license the song for a campaign ad. They made a social media post. The legal ground she's standing on is roughly as solid as her claim that "Firework" was never meant to evoke, well, fireworks.
You name a song "Firework." You fill the music video with pyrotechnics. You perform it every Fourth of July. Then the military uses it over a video of explosions and you're shocked.
That's not being appalled. That's not understanding your own brand.