SZA thinks the White House’s recent publicity tactics are a total snooze. In a post on X on Wednesday (Dec. 10), the R&B hitmaker called out the Donald Trump administration for “rage baiting” stars online.
Responding to a previous post on the platform from her former manager, Terrence “Punch” Henderson, SZA began by writing, “White House rage baiting artists for free promo is PEAK DARK.”
The Grammy winner went on to slam the administration’s “inhumanity” and use of “shock and [awe] tactics,” which she called “Evil n Boring.”
Billboard has reached out to the White House for comment.
In his original post, the Top Dawg Entertainment executive had written, “Trying to provoke artist to respond in order to help spread propaganda and political agendas is nasty business,” adding, “Knock it off.”
Though it’s unclear to what specifically the two were referring, their posts likely come in response to the recent trend of official White House social media accounts sharing videos set to music by well-known liberal artists. In November, Olivia Rodrigo called out the administration for pairing a reel glorifying ICE with her song “All-American Bi—” — “don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda,” she wrote at the time — and in December, Sabrina Carpenter expressed similar concerns.
“this video is evil and disgusting,” the pop star commented after the White House used her hit “Juno” in a video of immigration enforcement officers chasing, tackling and handcuffing people on the streets. “Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.”
But in a statement about Carpenter’s response to Newsweek, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said, “We won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from our country” before putting a spin on the singer’s “Manchild” lyrics: “Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?”
The administration was similarly quick to comment after countless Swifties protested the use of Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” in a TikTok video. “We made this video because we knew fake news media brands … would breathlessly amplify them,” an official told Variety at the time. “Congrats, you got played.”
