Zara Larsson criticized the White House for a deportation video featuring her song

The video combined several clips featuring officers from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other American law enforcement officials, who handcuffed men and put them into vehicles. The caption read “never ending deportations” and played on Larsson’s line “never-ending midnight sun”.

In a three-minute response video on social media, Larsson called the clip “dehumanizing”. According to her, the people in the footage are real people, and most undocumented migrants are ordinary workers trying to build a better future.

The singer also said that the White House is using her song to sow division, although, in her words, the lyrics of Midnight Sun are about the connection between people and nature. Earlier this year, Larsson had already criticized a video featuring dancing U.S. President Donald Trump, which used her song Lush Life.

In response to the artists’ protests, White House social media accounts have already removed other songs as well. In August, Taylor Swift’s August disappeared from a video, and after criticism from singer Olivia Rodrigo, one of her tracks was removed from a clip, which she called “hateful propaganda”; singers Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande also warned the Trump administration not to use their music.

BBC reported that it had contacted the White House for comment. At the time of publication, the video with Larsson’s music remained available on the White House TikTok channel.

Sources

• BBC