Kesha slams White House use of her song in military TikTok video
Photo: AFP
Kesha has criticised the White House for using her song “Blow” in a social media video that she says promotes violence.
The clip, posted on February 10, shows a fighter jet firing a missile at a naval ship alongside the caption “Lethality”. The video has been viewed 14.5 million times and received 1.8 million likes on TikTok.
@whitehouse Lethality 🔥🦅
♬ original sound - The White House
Responding on social media on Monday, the singer wrote, “It’s come to my attention that The White House has used one of my songs on TikTok to incite violence and threaten war. Trying to make light of war is disgusting and inhumane. I absolutely do NOT approve of my music being used to promote violence of any kind. Love always trumps hate. please love yourself and each other in times like this. This show of blatant disregard for human life and quite frankly this attack on all of our nervous systems is the opposite of what I stand for.”
She added, “Also, don’t let this distract us from the fact that criminal predator Donald Trump appears in the Files over a million times.”
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. However, White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung quoted Kesha’s post on X and wrote, “All these ‘singers’ keep falling for this. This just gives us more attention and more view counts to our videos because people want to see what they’re bitching about. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
All these “singers” keep falling for this. This just gives us more attention and more view counts to our videos because people want to see what they’re bitching about.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. https://t.co/QIAzNh4XhgKesha joins several artists who have objected to the use of their music in political or government-related content. Radiohead recently criticised the Department of Homeland Security for featuring their song “Let Down” in a pro-ICE video.
Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter and SZA have also publicly objected to similar uses of their music.