Swedish singer Zara Larsson has criticised the White House after her song, Midnight Sun, was used in a TikTok video showing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers detaining people.
The video, posted on the White House’s official TikTok account, showed immigration officers handcuffing people and placing some of them in vehicles. It carried the caption, “Never ending deportations,” a reference to the song’s “never ending midnight sun” lyric.
Larsson’s song was later removed from the video, although the footage remained available on the White House’s TikTok account.
Reacting to the post in a video on her own TikTok page, Larsson said she was deeply upset by the use of her music.
“I’m just sad. My heart is heavy seeing that,” she said, adding that she wished she could speak to whoever created the video.
Larsson said she believed people should remember the shared humanity between themselves and those featured in the footage.
She also spoke about being born in Sweden and having access to education and other opportunities, describing her circumstances as a matter of luck.
The singer said many undocumented immigrants were ordinary people seeking better lives for themselves and their families.
Larsson stressed that her criticism was not simply about immigration policy but about how the people in the video were portrayed.
“This video is so dehumanising. These people in this video are real people,” she said.
She also questioned why her song was chosen for the video, noting that Midnight Sun is about connection with nature, the universe and other people.
Larsson is not the first musician to object to the use of their music in White House content related to immigration enforcement. Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter have also publicly criticised the use of their songs in similar posts.
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