White House Rep Thanks SZA For Drawing “More Attention” To Pro-ICE Ad

Key Takeaways:

• SZA criticized the Donald Trump administration for using her “Big Boys” in a pro-ICE video without her consent.
• The White House’s response sparked further backlash from social media.
• Other artists like Doechii and Kehlani have also spoken out against ICE and government overreach in recent months.

A representative for the White House has responded after SZA called them out over their “evil” and “boring” pro-ICE ad.

On Tuesday (Dec. 10), the singer jumped on X after the White House used “Big Boys,” which originally aired as part of an “SNL” skit she did in December 2022. “White House rage-baiting artists for free promo is PEAK DARK,” she wrote, before criticizing the Donald Trump administration’s “inhumanity” and use of “shock and [awe] tactics.”

Her quote-tweet came in response to TDE’s Terrence “Punch” Henderson, who said, “Trying to provoke artists to respond in order to help spread propaganda and political agendas is nasty business. Knock it off.”

In a statement to People, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson responded by, of all things, thanking the “30 For 30” singer. She said, “Thank you, SZA, for drawing even more attention to the tremendous work America’s ICE officers are doing by arresting dangerous criminal illegal aliens from American communities.”

For added context, the White House shared a 31-second clip of ICE agents arresting immigrants on Monday (Dec. 8). “WE HEARD IT’S CUFFING SZN,” the caption read, in reference to SZA’s chorus on “Big Boys.”

SZA isn’t the first — or the last — artist to call out the Trump administration when it comes to ICE. At the 2025 BET Awards in June, Doechii spoke about the Los Angeles protests happening at the time. “I want y’all to consider what kind of government it appears to be when every time we exercise our democratic right to protest, the military is deployed against us,” she said during her Best Female Hip Hop Artist acceptance speech.

Then, in November, Kehlani condemned ICE for “kidnapping” people “out of schools, and jobs, and homes, and churches.” They told Big Boy that agents were reportedly “checking for Spanish-adjacent last names.”