Ariana Grande has blasted the White House for using a version of her 2024 song “Bye” in a TikTok post that depicted ICE agents arresting and handcuffing people.
Grande commented on the TikTok post from earlier this week, telling the administration to cease using her songs. “Please do not ever use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense. Fck ice,” she wrote in her comment, according to Reuters.
A spokesperson for Grande confirmed to Variety that Grande made the comment, but “for some reason it’s not publicly visible” on the post. Her team was also looking to remove the audio from the video, and the sound was stripped from the clip shortly after she posted her comment.
In a statement shared with Variety, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson wrote, “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.”
This isn’t the first time that Grande has called out the Trump administration and its supporters. In September 2025, she reshared a post on her Instagram that criticized the administration for ICE raids and transphobic rhetoric, as well as other threats to democracy. The post was originally written by activist Matt Bernstein as a “check-in” for Trump supporters.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai responded to Grande directly by punning off of her song titles. “Save your tears, Ariana. Because President Trump’s actions ended Joe Biden’s inflation crisis and are bringing in trillions in new investment,” he said. “He even signed an executive order just like magic that paved the way for the FTC to crack down on Ticketmaster for ripping off Ariana Grande’s concert-going fans. Get well soon, Ariana!”
Grande previously supported Democratic nominee Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election, and performed for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the 2014 “In Performance at the White House: Women of Soul” event. She is currently on her “Eternal Sunshine” tour, with plans to perform at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena this Saturday.
