The White House found itself in hot water this week after attempting to use Sabrina Carpenter’s “Juno” in a post promoting ICE’s migrant arrests. The social media team was forced to backtrack and delete the post, but not without a retaliatory move. They posted a new clip of Carpenter from her recent “Saturday Night Live” appearance, manipulating the audio to make it seem like she was calling cast member Marcello Hernández “illegal” instead of “hot.”
In the original commercial for “SNL,” Carpenter jokingly mentioned arresting someone for being too hot, with Hernández playing along. However, the altered clip now has Carpenter seemingly saying “…too illegal,” as Hernández extends his hands as if to be arrested. The caption on the post reads: “PSA: If you’re a criminal illegal, you WILL be arrested & deported.” The video also includes footage of immigrants being chased down and detained.
Carpenter’s team has not yet responded to the controversy. In response to the previous video using her music, Carpenter expressed her disgust, stating, “This video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.”
The White House’s initial response to Carpenter’s objection was to mockingly use her lyrics against her. Spokesperson Abigail Jackson defended the use of Carpenter’s music in the video, stating, “Here’s a Short n’ Sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter: we won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from our country.”
This is not the first time the White House has used pop stars and their music in controversial posts. They previously posted a video using Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” to glorify Trump, which remains online.
It is clear that the White House is not shying away from using music and celebrities to push their agenda, even if it means facing backlash and criticism. The manipulation of Carpenter’s words and the use of her music in these posts only adds fuel to the fire of the ongoing debate surrounding immigration and ICE enforcement.
