A viral Pentagon-themed TikTok video posted by the White House has triggered a public feud with one of pop music’s biggest stars, after officials used Katy Perry‘s 2010 hit “Firework” to soundtrack footage of U.S. military strikes on Iran.
The clip appeared on the Official White House TikTok account Thursday. It shows unclassified footage of bombings, carries the caption “Iran has been warned,” and ends with a fireworks emoji.
Perry did not stay quiet for long. By Saturday, she had taken to X to denounce the video, making clear she had nothing to do with its production.
“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,” Perry wrote.
She emphasized that no one from the administration reached out to her before using the track.
“I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it,” Perry said.
From there, Perry pivoted to the song’s backstory, laying out why the pairing struck her as such a betrayal of the music itself.
“I wrote this song to be an anthem of hope, healing, and inner strength for people going through their darkest personal moments,” Perry said.
According to Perry, turning that message into a soundtrack for combat imagery stripped the song of its meaning entirely.
“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,” Perry said.
She ended her post by contrasting her own goals as an artist with how the footage had been used.
“My music is for bringing people together, not celebrating warfare,” Perry said.
Perry’s relationship with Trump has been openly adversarial for years. She backed Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris in their respective presidential campaigns against him.
This is not Perry’s only brush with political controversy in 2026. Back in January, she encouraged her 195 million Instagram followers to “turn anger into action” against Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a post tied to the shooting death of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
After that post, Perry largely receded from political commentary for several months.
She resurfaced in headlines come April, though not over politics.
Australian police reportedly opened an investigation into sexual assault allegations brought against her by actress Ruby Rose, best known for “John Wick: Chapter 2.”
The TikTok controversy now places Perry inside a pattern that has become familiar to the Trump administration’s social media team: pairing popular songs with military or immigration enforcement footage, then facing public objections from the artists behind the music.
Olivia Rodrigo found herself in nearly identical circumstances last month. The White House used her song “All-American Bitch” in a video tied to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, prompting Rodrigo to say she felt “enraged” by the decision.
As of Saturday, the White House TikTok video featuring “Firework” remained posted and viewable, with no indication from officials that it would be taken down or altered.
Neither the White House press office nor representatives for Perry have issued follow-up statements addressing the matter beyond her original post.
Perry’s comments spread quickly after she published them, generating significant engagement across social media as users weighed in on the dispute.
The episode adds another chapter to the broader tension between Hollywood entertainers and the current administration over the unauthorized use of copyrighted music in official government content.
