Overview
- On Dec. 5, the White House shared a video that alters a Saturday Night Live promo so Sabrina Carpenter appears to say “too illegal” before cutting to footage of ICE detentions.
- The administration had earlier deleted from X a Dec. 1 montage of ICE arrests set to Carpenter’s song “Juno” after her Dec. 2 rebuke calling the video “evil and disgusting,” while versions persisted on TikTok.
- White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson defended the posts, saying they would not apologize for deporting “dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles.”
- Multiple outlets report the new clip uses a dubbed or AI-altered voice to replace “hot” with “illegal,” and as of Monday reporters noted Carpenter had not publicly responded to the altered promo.
- The videos fit a broader pattern of using popular music and likenesses in pro‑ICE messaging that artists such as Olivia Rodrigo have criticized, with platforms taking inconsistent removal actions across X and TikTok.