Katy Perry has said she is “deeply appalled and angry” that the White House used her song ‘Firework’ in a TikTok video featuring US military strikes in Iran. She said she had not been asked for approval and did not condone the use, arguing that linking a song about hope and self-worth to violence distorted its intended message.

The White House posted the video on Thursday with the caption “Iran has been warned”, synchronising strike footage with the song’s “boom boom boom” lyric. It was published as President Donald Trump threatened to continue or expand the Iran bombing campaign; when asked whether attacks on civilian infrastructure could be war crimes, he declined to answer. Perry is the latest musician to object to the administration’s use of their work, following Ariana Grande’s criticism last month.