Taylor Swift has moved to block Donald Trump from using her music on TikTok, disabling the audio on a recent “Team Trump” post that featured her song “august.”
Throughout the year, TikTok accounts associated with Trump — including the White House’s official account — have used Swift’s music in their posts. In addition to disabling the Team Trump video featuring “august,” Swift has muted previous posts from the president’s staff that used her songs “Opalite” and “Father Figure.” Another White House video, posted on the Fourth of July and featuring “The Fate of Ophelia,” remained available as of Saturday morning.
It’s unclear what ultimately prompted Swift to take action, but the latest Team Trump post practically invite a response. Its caption read, “I’m sure @TaylorSwift is going to be super excited we used her song!”
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Consequence has reached out to Swift’s representatives for more information.
While numerous artists have denounced Trump’s use of their music in social media posts, they often have limited recourse because the relevant rights are divided among record labels, publishers, and other rights holders that may have existing licensing agreements with social platforms. Swift, however, fully controls the rights to her masters and publishing, giving her greater ability to have her music removed from platforms or restrict how it is used.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to note that Swift has also disabled audio for two other TikTok videos associated with Trump.
@teamtrump I’m sure @Taylor Swift is going to be super excited we used her song! #taylorswift #maga #august