The White House removed a controversial social media video promoting Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests that used pop star Sabrina Carpenter’s song “Juno,” but the dispute intensified when a new clip featuring altered footage from her “Saturday Night Live” appearance was posted shortly afterward.
The original video, shared Monday on the White House’s X account, showed ICE agents detaining migrants while repeatedly playing the lyric “Have you ever tried this one?” from Carpenter’s song. The 21-second clip included a caption that read, “Have you ever tried this one? Bye-bye,” accompanied by waving and heart emojis. Carpenter, 26, condemned the post on X, calling it “evil and disgusting” and demanding that her music not be used to support what she described as an “inhumane agenda.”
A White House spokesperson initially defended the video, referencing Carpenter’s album “Short n’ Sweet” and lyrics from her song “Manchild,” stating that the administration would not apologize for deporting individuals they deemed dangerous criminals. The original video was quietly removed from X on Friday without explanation, though a version remained on TikTok with the audio removed.
Hours after deleting the first post, the White House released a new video using edited footage from Carpenter’s October promotional clip for her SNL appearance. In the original promo, Carpenter joked with cast member Marcello Hernández about arresting someone for being “too hot.” The White House version overdubbed the line to replace “hot” with “illegal” and paired it with a montage of ICE arrests, captioned: “PSA: If you’re a criminal illegal, you WILL be arrested & deported.”
The controversy is part of a broader pattern of artists objecting to the Trump administration’s use of their music in promotional videos. Other musicians, including Olivia Rodrigo, Kenny Loggins, Jess Glynne, and MGMT, have all publicly criticized unauthorized use of their songs in recent months.
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