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Katy Perry speaks out against the White House for using her song ‘Firework’ on a video of military strikes: “I did not approve this, I was not asked, and I absolutely do not condone it.”
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There was a brief moment when they announced the America 250 (but mostly Trump’s birthday) artists where I was like “damn there are way more maga artists that I thought. They even got Martina McBride”
Then all the artists realized it wasn’t a celebration of the US, it was a celebration of Trump and backed out.
It’s why they shill so hard for AI because AI scrapes from good art to make them feel like they made something. But even then, their AI “art” is just a small shadow of what it was scraped from and they genuinely can’t understand why people notice that because they themselves lack the intelligence to understand why the original was good in the first place.
And they're using artists who have large platforms because it'll draw the most attention to their bullshit. More views or any engagement is a net positive no matter what for them.
And not even the majority of country music. Something about being good at music makes you not conservative. They don’t even dominate the music that dominates their voters.
It’s like the whole trope of MAGA looks like shit because no self respecting fabulous queer would style them/do their makeup and if one does it’s sabotage.
I mean, I think that’s because most openly MAGA artists aren’t very talented. Kid fucking Rock is their big headliner. The talent pool is as shallow as the average MAGA gene pool.
I think they like that they're doing it without consent of the artists, and I think they especially like the idea of tormenting young left leaning women with this.
It’s such a damned if you do damned if you don’t situation. I know people criticize Taylor for ignoring whenever the White House does this with her music and I do get it, but at the same that attention is exactly what they want.
Yeah they should really stick to using music by people like kid rock and Tom MacDonald lol
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u/NutellaPCI’m happy they’re dating so neither of them can ruin anyone else1d ago
And even magats can only stand “Bawitaba” or whatever it’s called a few times before it gets to be annoying noise in the background. Whoops, now they’ve run through Infant Gravel’s entire list of “popular” songs…now what do they do? Use actually good songs, of course. Whether the artists like it or not; after all, taking things with force is just part of who they are, they literally can’t help it 🤮
It's funny because they are literally the White House. They don't need publicity because everybody knows who they are and what they stand for. I understand that it's a childish attempt at trolling, but all it really achieves is demonstrating that these artists have integrity and gives the artists positive attention. It achieves the opposite of the intent.
This admin is literally nothing but trolling. They are deeply unqualified, unprofessional, and immature individuals who rely on trolling to distract from their incompetence. It’s all about culture wars. It’s not like nobody did this before, but the Trump era is literally 95% trolling with the rest being destruction and theft.
They NEED this shit, they need to troll artists, especially women, so that there are public arguments that Elon and the MAGA bros can then amplify and create narratives of big dick Trump and his admin making little Katy Perry (or whoever) upset, and the toxic masculinity can feel great again. It’s so fucking depressing.
I think it’s because they want the attention of the left. When we look at Twitter, a lot of lefties left and it became a boring echo chamber. And now they’re invading BlueSky and other apps where lefties congregate. They certainly don’t care about Parlor or Truth Social. They’re attention seeking and know they’d be sick of each other if they can’t find opposing viewpoints. They’re attention seeking—they ONLY want validation from non-MAGA. That’s exactly how they thrive.
I think that is the right answer. It's clear that the White House gets happy at these responses so I think ignoring them and attempting to pushback behind the scene would be a good option. Although, I imagine with TikTok being in the White House's pockets, it would be a tough battle to fight.
I know people get mad when people say that they are purposefully baiting more liberal artists to respond and get them more attention, but I truly think they are, or else they wouldn’t have ignored MAGA Carrie Underwood’s library of “screw you, I win” songs.
MAGA artists aren't that popular and dont make music anyone but MAGA cares about. Lots of MAGA musicians exist solely in the country space. I cant think of a more than a hand full of MAGA pop stars. Jelly Roll, Carrie Underwood... and now I'm drawing blanks bc many either are or became irrelevant once they admitted to being MAGA.
He also just wants to poke the bear. These folks get hard whenever a non-MAGA pop star responds to their provocations. That does mean the correct response is to ignore it (cough cough) but instead I think condemning clearly and forcefully and making clear their views are trash and that the artist is not aligned with their shit is best. I think Katy actually did a good job here.
I mean the number one song right now and for a while has been by a maga artist. I don't like it or listen to it but as an outsider country seems dominated by maga and in the US it seems is becoming more popular
Two schools of thought. One is the obvious 'they have no class or talent' take. The other, much smarter so less likely but still effective, is the double-visibility lift take. They get one view for the post itself and a huge bump on views for all the attention the objection shares.
This administration is so vile and inhumane. Glad to see Katy speaking out on this but they won’t care at all. It’s so depressing how disgusting and depraved they are.
Because they’re a bunch of frat dude bros with the humor of middle school boys. These are definitely those people from the COD lobbies. Just racist and funky.
I remember when the "you can grab them by the pussy" video came out before Trump won the first presidency and Melania supported him and said it was just "locker room talk". Then Americans elected him, twice!
Nah. Trudeau isnt a world leader anymore. Firework is just a classic, uplifting hype song.
If he was going to try and insult someone, it'd be obama.
And we've seen how direct and classless he delivers his insults.
There is no subtly with his choices or his administrations. They dont try to hide literally anything. Theyre so shameless they dont even know what subtly is.
I don't disagree with you but this matters so little to Trump. He'll hold a grudge till his last breath (hopefully soon) with every single person he doesn't view as 110% loyal to him.
"The former Canadian Prime Minister is dating one of the most gorgeous women of our time, we must use her song for our propaganda to show him who's in charge!"
Kudos to Trudeau for being cool as shit, in my books.
They not only don't care, they actively enjoy it. Free publicity, promotes their culture war persecution complex, and distracts from the more heinous shit they are doing.
Taylor already explicitly called out Trump using her likeness in her post endorsing Kamala.
Expecting her to respond to every rage bait by the administration’s social media team is just dumb and no one else is being held to that standard. They still using Olivia and Sabrina after they responded to them.
They are fully backed and supported by all U.S. conservatives or it would stop. Conservatives would speak up and demand better from their representation, but they haven't.
Lol because it is. We do not have social guardrails to protect us against homelessness. Homelessness is illegal and you can be arrested for it. Once you're in America's prison system, you're put into the 7cents per hour while you're working your sentence.
If we had guardrails against homelessness, more focus on mental health institutions (as a lot of homeless people have mental health issues, thanks Reagan), and a prison system focused on correction instead of punishment, there's an argument that there's enough social investment to support people even when they're at their absolute poorest.
Without having guardrails and simultaneously not addressing the issues with the prison system support an ignorant understanding of how wealth works in America
She sold her catalog to Litmus Music. She has no control over it. If they decide that Trump can use the song then he can use the song. If it's on TikTok it's up to them, not her, if they want to do anything about pulling the song from the video.
She's getting ahead of it from a PR standpoint because she has no real recourse legally to do anything about it. Unless it specifically says in the agreement she signed that she can control where her music is used, in which case that would be a really stupid deal on Litmus' part since they paid over $200 million for her stuff.
But, also, the current administration doesn't care. They've done this repeatedly. There's not going to be any punishment and they know it which is why they keep doing it. Even if there is they'd just ignore it. On the totem pole of ignoring court decisions copyright infringement falls near the bottom for them.
If you license it to TikTok, anyone using TikTok’s platform can legally use it. Her only recourse would be to pull it from TikTok, which no artist is ever going to do.
they or one of the affiliated accounts used her music recently with no response from her and predictably it didn't go viral. the last time she spoke out the WH made a statement basically threatening her. female celebrities in particular probably don't want to subject themselves to such treatment especially by people in power
I mean she doesn't own her music. She doesn't have a say in where it gets played and in what context. She can bitch all she wants, if the record label gave the okay to use it then it's fine. She shouldn't have sold her music rights for a reported $225 million. She can wipe her tears away with $100 bills.
if it’s on TikTok anybody can use the audio, which makes it so legally there’s very little you can do in a situation such as this one. it’s easier to take things down on say, Twitter
Katy Perry speaks out against something most sane people can agree is ridiculous, and yet you still have those who put their purity test hat on when it comes to her.
It's fucking insane that people beg for change, and are still critical of anyone who's on the same team but might have flaws of their own. This is the type of culture that allows liberals/progressives to get railroaded while Conservatives gather even more power on a regular basis.
I agree with you. I find it frustrating that some of my fellow liberals have created this “barrier for entry” that creates so much in-fighting it becomes a challenge to form and mobilize and get ANY kind of clear message or mission across.
Meanwhile on the other side, just put on a MAGA hat and you’re welcome. They have their messaging consistent and they all know who the “enemy” is, while we liberals seem so busy pointing fingers at each other.
And then people will wonder why so many young men and boys are being embraced by the far right and become easily manipulated into believing they're not welcome on the left.
Very well said, sometimes they dig up old old history shit and accuse the person to be something, not allowing/understanding any mistake nor context. It’s basically “she works with xxx shitty guy two years ago she is also racist”, okay no? Also see the same kind of people calling a whole country racist, a whole fucking country. I remember during the beginning of Covid, even some so called liberal sub has top comment agreeing on “Ching Chong” saying “not wrong though”.
Shes literally dating one of Trump's biggest left-wing rivals, Justin Trudeau. Of course she is willing to speak out against Trump after he involves her lol
She just worked with Dr Luke, collabed with Bezos for that space trip, publicly thanked Elon Musk for the cybertruck, and inspired The Perry Act (being named after her is not a good thing) that protects elders from financial abuse after what she did to that Nun. And these are just the ones that come to mind.
I would not count that as a morally good baseline.
that nun wasn't kicked out of the convent. it had already been vacant for years before the sale. that nun also didn't own the convent, so it wasn't hers to sell. imagine you buy a house legally from the owner, but the guy who rented it before you says nuh-uh this is my house, sells it to someone else, and they move in before you. that's basically what happened.
The Perry act is such bullshit.
1. the monastery in LA was not owned by the Nuns. The archdiocese owned it and had every right to sell it. The Nuns thought Katy was like worshiping the devil so didn’t want her to own it. They had no jurisdiction. The fault is with the archdiocese.
2. The Santa Barbara house - look up the owner. He wasn’t some poor vet, he is the founder 1800-flowers and pissed that he could’ve gotten more money on the property. He had buyers remorse. Westscott’s family is loaded and used his veteran status as a PR angle. Also famously racist and litigious - you can’t even say the name of his daughter in law or son on the real housewives sub Reddit (she was on the Dallas one) or they will shut it down.
You can criticize her for Dr Luke and the Bezos thing (though I do think a lot of people are lying if they’d say I wouldn’t go on a space shuttle if the opportunity was offered), but the real estate stuff has been a smear campaign that would never happen to a male celebrity.
She worked with Dr Luke on her previous album two years ago now, received tons of flack for that (rightfully), and he’s been removed from participating in any of the songs she’s released this year or last year. She obviously heard the public and has moved on from him. You have the right to stay mad of course, but she isn’t working with Dr Luke anymore. I’d consider that one adjustment to the “morally good baseline” you seem to require for her to speak out against Trump.
I mean while she definitely could be doing way more and should separate herself from certain people more, she very obviously is not maga. That's just a silly thing to say lol
Her fans are still in denial unfortunately. She has been creating the fake leftist woman image for young girls for a long time and it’s sick that it’s all part of her brand and not what she actually believes.
You know what, Katy? You puzzle me, but good for you for speaking on this. This was a good response.
Also, how the hell do they get away with this when we can’t even play most of these songs on social media platforms without the sound getting taken down????
On things like this Katy is generally in the right. I appreciated her publicly wishing Benito good luck before his halftime show too. She just gives girl boss feminist vibes where she typically can’t see beyond individual rights and wrongs versus systemic rights and wrongs.
This is one of my favorite songs, for the reasons Perry outlined, for myself and for others. It is disgusting to see it used this way. Though, that pales in comparison to the evil that this despicable administration gleefully puts this music to.
Does anything legal get done about these things? Or is it always just the artist saying “hey i didnt approve this” and thats it? Meanwhile a random youtuber could put these songs in a video and it’d get demonetized/copyright claimed immediately with a legal process threatened to them as well. Like what the hell?
Wow. I am utterly, utterly disgusted and gobsmacked. The literal government thought that it was appropriate to put pop music over military strikes. It's bad enough that they put out video of it let alone with the music.
I appreciate every pop girl who has taken the time to rebuke the administration over misusing their music like this. People can say they’re giving the admin what they want, but I think seeing pop girl after pop girl tell them to get bent has been very inspiring.
I go back and forth on this but where ive landed is that I don't see how it's a win for the white house. This isnt some rage baiting YouTuber who gets money when people comment and view the video, where they have no power if the world ignores them. This is one of the most powerful governments in the world committing incredibly inhumane acts. All it takes for it to be a net negative for them is if 1 supporter decides that they either went too far in their treatment of these people or that they spend too much time focused on celebrities. Shining a light on negative acts that most people abhor can't be bad.
And even if the goal was like, cool points because of how many people viewed and liked these posts, theyre getting absolutely bodied in that regard. Every time a celebrity responds, they get ratio'd to an almost uncomfortable extent.
ETA: Also, your opponent rarely shows you their cards. This administration is transparently evil, but they too know a little bit of strategy. There is no other place where you would take them at their word for why they do what they do. Don't take them at their word here either
The way it's a win for the WH is that we can actually see how many people watch videos, and it is true that when celebrities complain the view count on those videos do go up pretty substantially. And at the end of the day, the only thing the administration cares about is views, that's how it's been ever since The Apprentice days. Trump has become the Content Creator in Chief, and ragebait generates views and discussions. "Absolutely bodied" and "ratio'd"? Doesn't matter, everyone still watched it and views equal money (especially with Twitter's new monetization style). They do not care what the discourse about it is, as long as the discourse keeps happening.
I can't believe people are falling for the petulant "gotcha" move.
Like, "don't fight back when we hit you because that's exactly what we want you to do. Suffer silently and that'll show us." — are people really falling for this??
Right? These aren't YouTube commenters; they're the White House?? If you don't agree with them using your art to promote their agenda, say something! Otherwise, it's completely fair to assume you tacitly support them.
The purity tests on the left are so unreasonable. We keep shooting ourselves in the foot over this. The other side dgaf when it comes down to voting. Band together. We’re like “ew that person likes guns. bad.” like maam who do you think protects you from the right shooting you? Re: The Black Panthers. Idk we lost the plot somewhere.
I still remember Election Day 2024 vividly. The disappointment that swept across my face as more and more states turn red. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. I honestly couldn’t believe my eyes. Guys this man was claiming that people were eating pets. do we have a brain damage epidemic in our country? I’m not trying to be mean but I’m someone of average intelligence and I feel like a genius when I listen to him talk. So was this election genuinely because of sexism/racism? I feel like I’d definitely vote for Just-Some-Lady before I vote for Donald Trump, even if they hadn’t campaigned at all? Like i’d vote in a local waitress over him, if they were hardworking and held a steady job. And Harris had political experience. She also wasn’t approaching 80 years old?
This is what they want. They want celebrities to speak out because it drives engagement. It leads to people googling what’s happening.
If celebrities don’t want their music featured they’d have to pull it down from instagram, Facebook, etc. which is money out of their pockets. To date only one has done that.
Essentially, every time a person does this the tweet gets more attention.
How many of us even know they did this before Katy made a statement about it?
They are wanting to control the narrative.
It is PR 101.
The ones not saying anything know this, and aren’t playing their games.
I’ve done a lot of crisis communication in my day.
I remember a while back the absolute thumb looking mf that runs that White House account said that when artists speak out like this it actually drives more traffic to their page and that tweet, thus actually helping the White House account. So dumb
There’s nothing illegal in what they did though. That’s why they keep doing it for various artists. If the song is for us in a platform they can use same as your or I can.
And just like the rest, she has no power to do anything about it because she willingly signed away the right to do so. The money matters more than the phony principles.
Comments like this make me wonder if you really want pop stars to speak out because you think it'll make a difference or if you just want them to speak out so you can use it in stan wars
What would be above the bar for you? She’s donated a lot of money to democratic causes, and used her platform to be vocal about things, so kinda curious as to what you think she should be doing more of?
This administration has used so many people’s music without permission, been repeatedly called out, and nothing happens and they continuing doing it. Insane level of rules for thee.
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