American pop star, Sabrina Carpenter, has called out Trump’s administration after her song ‘Juno’ was used in a video montage on social media without her permission which depicted US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. Carpenter posted on X in response “Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda” and called the video “evil and disgusting”. The White House went on to post a further video, using a clip for the promo of Carpenter’s SNL episode where she says: “I think I might have to arrest someone for being too hot” but changing “too hot” to “illegal”, again followed by a montage of videos from the ICE raids.
Carpenter is not the first pop star to publicly denounce their association to the White House following the unauthorised use of their image and music in media put out by the administration. Music by Olivia Rodrigo and Jess Glynne has also been used by the administration for videos relating to ICE raids, to which both pop stars spoke out against, denouncing the association publicly.
From an IP standpoint this is interesting as, in the UK, the pop stars may have had a case for passing off, due to their likeness being used in a way that could be said to endorse the administration’s policies, without their prior permission. Famously, in 2003, Eddie Irvin brought a claim for passing off against TalkSport Radio relating to their use of his image to falsely endorse the radio station, to which he was successful. It will be interesting to see whether Carpenter attempts to take any comparable action in the US.
If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
