White House Uses Altered Carpenter Clip Amid Backlash Over ‘Juno’ Video

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The White House’s social media team faced backlash this week after attempting to include Sabrina Carpenter’s song “Juno” in a post highlighting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) migrant arrests. Following criticism, the administration deleted the initial post but quickly responded with another video featuring Carpenter.

In the new clip from Carpenter’s recent appearance on “Saturday Night Live,” her dialogue was altered. Instead of saying she might need to “arrest someone for being too hot,” she appeared to say “too illegal” with an overdub. The Latino cast member, Marcello Hernández, responds humorously, extending his hands as if being arrested. The caption of the shared video stated, “PSA: If you’re a criminal illegal, you WILL be arrested & deported.”

The White House’s new post included footage of immigrants being chased and arrested, similar to the original, now-deleted video that used Carpenter’s song. Carpenter criticized the first video, calling it “evil and disgusting” and requested her music not be used to promote such an “inhumane agenda.”

In the earlier post, repetitive lyrics from “Juno” accompanied images of migrants being detained. It remains unclear whether the White House deleted the original tweet voluntarily, although a version without the contentious audio still circulates on TikTok.

Following her objections, the White House responded with a mocking statement. Spokesperson Abigail Jackson stated, “We won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from our country.”

The administration has previously used pop culture references in controversial ways, including a November video featuring Taylor Swift‘s “The Fate of Ophelia” set to pro-Trump imagery, which remains online.

As of now, Carpenter’s team has not responded to requests for further comment on the recent developments.