SZA Calls Out White House in Furious Tweet: 'Rage Baiting Artists for Free Promo'

In the depths of winter, 'cuffing season' usually implies a cosy, romantic search for a partner to wait out the cold with. It brings to mind warm blankets, hot cocoa, and SZA's viral Saturday Night Live anthem, Big Boy. However, the White House has flipped this Gen Z term on its head, swapping romantic attachments for literal handcuffs in a move that has sparked fury from the R&B superstar herself.​

SZA has accused the Trump administration of intentionally 'rage baiting' musicians to amplify their political messaging. Her comments come after the official White House account posted a video captioned 'WE HEARD IT'S CUFFING SZN', featuring footage of immigration enforcement agents chasing down and detaining individuals.​​

The White House's 'Cuffing Szn' Campaign

On Tuesday, the White House's social media team released a polished 17-second clip that starkly contrasted pop culture slang with hardline immigration policy. The video, overlaid with the viral 'It's cuffing season' audio from SZA's SNL sketch, shows agents in tactical gear pursuing people on foot. The caption accompanying the post read: 'Bad news for criminal illegal aliens. Great news for America.'​​

The video immediately began circulating on X (formerly Twitter), drawing attention not just for its content but for its brazen use of a beloved internet meme. For fans of the song, which originally celebrated the joy of finding a 'big boy' for the winter, the recontextualisation was jarring. The administration appeared to be leaning into the double entendre of 'cuffing'—using it to refer to arrests rather than relationships—to promote their ongoing immigration crackdown.​

'Peak Dark Inhumanity': SZA Strikes Back

SZA, whose real name is Solána Rowe, did not let the usage slide. In a scathing tweet posted on 10 December, she dismantled the administration's social media strategy, labelling it a cynical trap designed to exploit artists' platforms. She wrote: 'White House rage baiting artists for free promo is PEAK DARK ..inhumanity +shock and aw tactics ..Evil n Boring.'​​

Her response highlighted a growing sentiment among creatives: that the administration is not merely stealing music but actively courting controversy to drive engagement. By provoking a reaction from a global superstar with millions of followers, the White House effectively guarantees their content reaches an audience far beyond their usual political base.​

TDE Executive Calls It 'Nasty Business'

Terrence 'Punch' Henderson, the president of Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) and SZA's manager, also weighed in on the controversy. In a series of tweets, he broke down the mechanics of the administration's approach, suggesting that the provocation was a calculated move to weaponise the artists' fanbases.​

'Trying to provoke artist to respond in order to help spread propaganda and political agendas is nasty business,' Punch wrote. 'Knock it off.'. Earlier, he had alluded to the situation with a cryptic tweet, clarifying that he wasn't talking about 'rap or a rap battle', but something much more serious. His comments reinforce the theory that these copyright infringements are less about negligence and more about a strategic 'shock and awe' campaign.​​

A Pattern of Pop Culture Wars

SZA is not the first artist to find her work co-opted for this specific agenda, nor is she the first to speak out this month. Just days prior, global pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter found herself in a nearly identical situation. The White House had used her hit song Juno—specifically the lyrics 'Have you tried this one?'—to soundtrack another montage of ICE arrests.​

Carpenter's reaction was swift and furious. She called the video 'evil and disgusting' and demanded: 'Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.'. The parallel between the two incidents is striking: both involved viral hits by young female artists, both used lyrical puns to make light of deportation, and both elicited immediate, high-profile condemnations.​

This tactic fits into a decade-long pattern of friction between Donald Trump and the music industry. From the Rolling Stones to Beyoncé—who threatened a cease and desist order in 2024 over the use of Freedom—artists have repeatedly demanded their work be removed from his campaign materials. However, the shift from rally playlists to meme-focused 'rage bait' videos represents a new, digital-first evolution of this conflict, one that SZA and her team have keenly identified as 'evil and boring'.​