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Zara Larsson says a White House deportation video using her song is ‘dehumanising’

Published 09:41 18 Sept 2026 BST

Updated 09:41 18 Sept 2026 BST

Christian Buschardt
Zara Larsson says a White House deportation video using her song is ‘dehumanising’

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What Zara Larsson said in her reaction video

Zara Larsson has condemned the White House for setting a video that appears to show immigration enforcement raids to her song Midnight Sun, calling the clip "dehumanising".

The song has since been removed from the post, but the video is still visible on the White House's TikTok feed, according to BBC News, which has contacted the White House for comment.

The reel was captioned "never ending deportations", a play on words from the pop star's lyric "never-ending midnight sun".

The post splices together multiple videos of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and other US law enforcement personnel handcuffing men and putting them into vehicles.

The Swedish singer reposted part of the original clip, which cuts to a selfie video of her holding her fingers in an 'L' shape against her forehead.

Her three-minute reaction has already passed 5.1 million views on TikTok.

Zara Larsson talking about the White House post using her song. Credit: X/@PopCrave

"These people in this video, they're real people," she says.

"The vast majority of these people who are undocumented are regular people with jobs and they're just trying to have a better future."

"It's so crazy how everything is so memefied and so 'ha-ha-ha'," she added, accusing the White House of using her song to sow "division" when, according to Larsson, its lyrics reflect a connection between people and nature.

Earlier this year Larsson condemned a video of President Donald Trump dancing at various events overlaid with her hit single, Lush Life.

She joins a growing list of singers, including Sabrina Carpenter and Ariana Grande, who have told the Trump administration not to use their music.

White House accounts have been forced to remove songs before after artists intervened.

Taylor Swift's seasonal track August disappeared from a Trump administration reel in August, and one of Olivia Rodrigo's songs vanished from a video after the singer condemned its use for what she called "hateful propaganda".

This isn't the first we hear of singer coalitions going against powerful figures with multiple acts pulling out of Ed Sheeran's tour in solidarity with Macklemore.