SZA became the latest artist to take a stand against the White House for using one of her songs, "Big Boy," in a pro-ICE ad, labeling it as "evil" and "boring." The singer's reaction was swift on Twitter, following the White House's use of the tune, originally aired as part of an SNL sketch in December 2022, in a social media post earlier this week. "White House baiting artists for free promo is the pinnacle of dark inhumanity + shock and awe tactics," she wrote. "Evil n Boring."
SZA's manager, Punch, also weighed in on the White House post, writing on X, "Trying to provoke [artists] to respond in order to help spread propaganda and political agendas is a disgusting game. Knock it off."
In a statement to Variety, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson commented, "Thank you, SZA, for drawing even more attention to the remarkable work America's ICE officers are doing by arresting dangerous criminal illegal aliens from American communities."
SZA joins a growing list of artists who have spoken out against the White House for repurposing their songs for posts. Last week, Sabrina Carpenter slammed Donald Trump's administration for using her hit song "Juno" in a video montage depicting ICE raids. "This video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda," she wrote on social media.
The White House's actions didn't stop there; shortly after deleting the initial X post, they posted another clip of Carpenter doing an SNL commercial with the audio overdubbed, making it appear as if she was calling cast member Marcello Hernández "illegal" instead of "hot."
