THE APEX TIMES
Ariana Grande tells the White House to stop using her song in a video, calling it “heinous nonsense”
The singer said she contacted the White House after a video appeared to use her music, joining other artists who have objected to their songs being used in political content.
Ariana Grande has said she told the White House to stop using her music after a White House video included her song “Bye.” In a statement reported by BBC News, Grande said she contacted the White House directly and objected to the use of her work, describing it as “heinous nonsense.”
The reported complaint centers on the White House’s use of a recorded track in a video produced for official communications. Grande’s message, as described by BBC News, was a blunt rejection of the approach, and it was framed as a request to remove her music from the White House video.
Grande’s remarks also placed the incident within a broader pattern of artists publicly protesting the use of their songs in political messaging without permission. BBC News reported that Grande joined multiple artists who have demanded that the Trump team not use their music in official or campaign-linked materials.
Copyright, licensing, and permissions are at issue when recorded music is used in public political communications. While the BBC report characterizes Grande’s response as an instruction not to use the song, the underlying resolution typically depends on whether the video is taken down, whether the audio is replaced, and whether any licensing arrangement exists for the specific use.
The White House video and the underlying claim about its audio track raise questions about internal controls for content selection and clearance, including who approves music choices for public-facing material and what documentation, if any, supports the use of copyrighted recordings and underlying compositions.
For Grande’s audience, the dispute also highlights how quickly songs can become part of public messaging once they appear in high-visibility communications. Even when an artist does not explicitly endorse the political context, the association can lead to public statements and demands for removal, affecting how fan communities interpret the work’s visibility and use.
What happens next will likely depend on whether the White House alters or removes the video, and whether any further correspondence is made public. Until then, the episode remains a contested example of how political offices and artists address the boundaries of music usage in official communications.
Why It Matters
- The incident tests whether political offices have adequate procedures for content licensing and permissions for music used in official videos.
- If the video is not changed, the dispute could draw attention to enforcement and remedies available to rights holders when songs are used without authorization.
- For artists and their teams, public objections can accelerate removal or alteration of content, affecting how quickly political communications adapt.
Key Facts
- Ariana Grande said she contacted the White House after a video used her song “Bye.”
- In her reported message, Grande called the use “heinous nonsense.”
- BBC News reported that Grande joined other artists demanding the Trump team not use their music.
- The dispute involves the use of copyrighted recorded music in a White House video.