White House fires back at Ariana Grande for 'barbaric' ICE remark, defends deportation messaging

WASHINGTON, DC: The White House pushed back after Ariana Grande condemned the Trump administration for using her music in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement-related social media video.

Officials quickly turned the dispute into a broader defense of deportation enforcement, arguing that celebrity criticism is disconnected from the administration's immigration message.

White House defends ICE deportation messaging

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson responded after Grande objected to the administration’s use of her song ‘Bye’ in a TikTok video showing ICE arrests.

“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,” Jackson told Fox News Digital. 

The response came after Grande left a blunt message in the comments section of the video.

“Please do not ever use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense. f**k ice,” the singer wrote.

The White House video featured the caption: “Bye-bye. President Trump has delivered the most secure border in history.”

As of Thursday, June 11, the song appeared to have been removed from the post.

Notably, Grande is not the first artist to speak out. Back in December, Sabrina Carpenter responded after a video shared by the Trump administration showing ICE arrests used her 2024 song ‘Juno.’ Olivia Rodrigo also slammed the DHS for using her song 'All-American B***h' in a deportation video, commenting, "Don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda." 

Ariana Grande’s past criticism of Trump and his immigration policies resurfaces

The latest exchange also renewed attention on Grande’s previous criticism of the Trump administration's immigration policies.

Last September, she shared an Instagram post claiming that “immigrants have been violently torn from their families and communities have been destroyed.” She had also shared a protest sign that read, “Could someone explain which crimes get you deported and which ones get you elected President? It’s so confusing,” referring to President Donald Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts in the hush money case.

Grande has been publicly critical of Trump for years. She attended the Women’s March shortly after Trump first took office in 2017 and also spoke out online against his transgender bathroom ban. 

The 'We can’t be friends' singer backed former Vice President Kamala Harris for president in 2024 and performed for former President Barack Obama at the White House in 2014.