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The White House found itself in hot water after posting, then swiftly deleting, a contentious social media video that used pop star Sabrina Carpenter’s song “Juno” to highlight Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests. However, instead of settling the issue, the situation escalated when they replaced it with a fresh video, employing altered footage from Carpenter’s “Saturday Night Live” appearance in October.
Initially released on Monday via the White House’s official X account, the original video featured a looped clip of ICE agents apprehending migrants, accompanied by the repeated lyric, “Have you ever tried this one?” from Carpenter’s popular track. The 21-second video included the caption, “Have you ever tried this one? Bye-bye,” adorned with waving and heart emojis, which quickly drew public scrutiny.
Carpenter, age 26, took to X on Tuesday to express her disapproval of the video’s use of her music. “This video is evil and disgusting,” she wrote. “Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.”
Carpenter, 26, responded Tuesday on X.
“This video is evil and disgusting,” Carpenter wrote. “Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.”
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson initially defended the video in a statement to multiple news outlets, referencing Carpenter’s album title “Short n’ Sweet” and lyrics from her recent single, “Manchild.”
“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,” Jackson told The Washington Post. “Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?”
The administration quietly removed the video from X on Friday without explanation, though it remained posted on TikTok with the audio removed.
Hours after the deletion, the White House posted a new video featuring edited footage from an October promotional clip for Carpenter’s “SNL” appearance. In the original promo, Carpenter joked with cast member Marcello Hernández about needing to arrest someone for being “too hot.” The White House version overdubbed the audio, replacing “hot” with “illegal,” then cut to a montage of ICE arrests.
The caption read: “PSA: If you’re a criminal illegal, you WILL be arrested & deported.”
The dispute joins a growing list of artists who have objected to the Trump administration’s use of their music in promotional videos. Olivia Rodrigo, Kenny Loggins, Jess Glynne and the band MGMT have all condemned unauthorized use of their songs in recent months.
