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Another day, another musician hating that the Trump administration has used one of their songs in a promotional video. This time, the fight comes after the White House’s TikTok account posted a video of fighter aircraft with Kesha’s song ‘Blow’ playing in the background.

The singer posted on X on Monday telling the White House to “Stop using my music, perverts.” In another, more detailed post, she said the video uploaded to TikTok was “disgusting and inhumane”. She said she did not approve of her music being used to “promote violence of any kind”.

She referred to President Donald Trump as a “criminal predator” and said his name “appears in the [Epstein] files over a million times” — the New York Times said the president is mentioned 38,000 times in the publicly released files relating to the convicted sex offender.

She asked her fans to love themselves and love each other in these times, because “love always trumps hate”.

Kesha is hardly the first musician to demand President Trump and those connected to him stop using their music on social media. Here are some others who faced similar situations during the president’s 2024 campaign and subsequent term in office:

Radiohead

Just last week, English band Radiohead took offence to a video from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement — better known as ICE — that used their music.

Responding to the agency’s use of their song ‘Let Down’ in a post on X, Radiohead issued a statement reading, “We demand that the amateurs in control of the ICE social media account take it down. It ain’t funny, this song means a lot to us and other people, and you don’t get to appropriate it without a fight. Also, go f*** yourselves… Radiohead.”

Sabrina Carpenter

Last December, Sabrina Carpenter denounced the use of her song ‘Juno’ in a video by ICE. In a post on X, she called the video “evil and disgusting,” asking the government body to stop using her songs in “inhumane propaganda”.

SZA

Also in December, SZA’s parody song ‘Big Boys’ appeared in a video from the White House, leading her to calling the administration’s practice of “rage baiting artists for free promo” “PEAK DARK”.

Kenny Loggins

In October, amid widespread protests in the US, President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated video of himself flying a fighter jet and dumping brown sludge on protesters. Naturally, Kenny Loggins’ ‘Danger Zone’ was playing in the background.

The singer said in a statement to NPR, “Nobody asked me for my permission, which I would have denied, and I request that my recording on this video is removed immediately.“ He added, “I can’t imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us. Too many people are trying to tear us apart, and we need to find new ways to come together.”

MGMT

Also in October, MGMT issued a statement on Instagram calling for the US Department of Homeland Security to take down a “propaganda video” which used the group’s song ‘Little Dark Song’ without their permission.

Olivia Rodrigo

Olivia Rodrigo faced a similar situation in July, when one of her songs was used by ICE in a clip promoting self-deportation. Rodrigo said, “don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda”.

Earlier in 2024, she removed her song ‘Deja Vu’ from TikTok after Trump used it in a video celebrating his victory in the presidential election. In a now-deleted comment, Rodrigo said, “Ew don’t use my sound ever again ty.”

ABBA

Swedish supergroup ABBA and their agents at Universal Music issued a statement in August of 2024 calling for Trump to stop using their songs after a rally in Minnesota where ‘Money, Money, Money,’ ‘The Winner Takes it All,’ and ‘Dancing Queen’ were played.

A doctored video from the campaign also showed the group’s members on stage as a big screen flashed messages calling for donations. Universal demanded that all material with ABBA’s music or video’s be “immediately taken down and removed”.

Beyonce

Beyonce did authorise the use of her song ‘Freedom’ by a presidential candidate — it’s just that the candidate in question was Trump’s opponent, Kamala Harris.

That didn’t stop Trump from using the song anyway in a video of himself arriving at a rally. That earned him a cease and desist letter from Beyonce’s team.

Celine Dion

Most of the songs on this list are understandably upbeat power anthems, but Trump once used Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ at a rally in 2024.

Her record label, Sony Music Canada, had to clarify that, “In no way is this use authorised and Celine Dion does not endorse this or any similar use.” They also understandably asked, “and really, that song?”

Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters played an Uno reverse card on Trump after he used their song ‘My Hero’ to introduce his future Health Secretary RFK Jr at an event.

Responding to a question from the Wu Tang Clan on whether the use was authorised, the group relied “No”. They also pledged to donate any royalties from its use by Trump supporters to the Harris campaign.

The White Stripes

The White Stripes’ iconic ‘Seven Nation Army’ has been used by Trump’s social media team twice in different videos. The first instance was in 2016, when the band’s label said they were “disgusted by this association, and by the illegal use of their song”.

The message was clearly not received, though, as a campaign official posted a video of the then-presidential candidate boarding a plane with the song playing. Band member Jack White had some strong words for Trump, saying, “Oh….Don’t even think about using my music you fascists.”