Kacey Musgraves TikTok Drama: White House ICE Deportation Videos Spark Backlash From Pop Stars

A White House deportation video featuring Kacey Musgraves' 'Mexico Honey' displays a notice that its sound is unavailable. The country singer has not publicly commented on the TikTok post.

The administration has previously faced objections from Ariana Grande, Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter over music accompanying immigration enforcement footage. Grande's and Rodrigo's songs also became unavailable on posts after they objected to their inclusion.

Kacey Musgraves Has Not Claimed Responsibility

The White House captioned its Musgraves video 'Going back smooth'. The soundtrack subsequently became unavailable, but it remains unclear whether the singer, her team, her label or TikTok was responsible.

The missing audio alone does not establish that Musgraves requested its removal or shares the views expressed by other artists. Her position remains unknown, even as the post draws attention to government videos that pair popular songs with deportations and arrests.

Grande and Rodrigo Offer Precedent for Kacey Musgraves

Grande responded after the White House included 'Bye' in a TikTok featuring ICE officers detaining immigrants. 'Please do not ever use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense. f-ck ice,' she wrote beneath the video.

Her team reportedly sought to have the music removed, and the song was muted within hours. The video remained online. The White House responded with a statement referencing another Grande hit.

Rodrigo objected when 'All-American B-tch' accompanied a government video promoting self-deportation. Featuring ICE operations, it warned undocumented immigrants to leave voluntarily or 'face the consequences.'

'Don't ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda,' Rodrigo wrote. Her comment later disappeared, and Instagram eventually displayed a notice that the song was unavailable.

Carpenter's 'Juno' accompanied footage of people being chased, restrained and handcuffed by ICE agents, with the lyric 'Have you ever tried this one?' repeated during the arrests.

'This video is evil and disgusting,' she wrote. 'Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.'

The White House responded with references to 'Short n' Sweet' and 'Manchild', then shared another edited video involving Carpenter.

Dispute Extends Beyond Kacey Musgraves and TikTok

SZA objected to the administration's inclusion of 'Big Boys', her comedy song from a 2022 Saturday Night Live sketch. The video recast its 'cuffing season' joke as a reference to immigrants being handcuffed.

She called it 'rage bait' and described its message as 'inhuman' and 'evil.' Her former manager, Terrence 'Punch' Henderson, accused the administration of deliberately provoking artists to attract attention to its posts.

Semisonic challenged a video pairing 'Closing Time' with detained migrants boarding deportation flights. Its caption quoted the track's line about not being able to stay. The band denied authorising or condoning the song's inclusion and stated, 'And no, they didn't ask.'

It explained that the song concerned joy, possibilities and hope, declaring that the administration had 'missed the point entirely.'

A separate dispute involved Katy Perry's 'Firework' and a White House TikTok featuring US military strikes against Iran. 'I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it,' Perry wrote in response.

That video synchronised explosions with the song's 'boom, boom, boom' lyric and carried a warning directed at Iran.

Radiohead also demanded that ICE remove a social media video featuring 'Let Down'. The band rejected its association with the agency's message and emphasised the song's personal significance to its members and fans.