Photo: Chris Haston/WBTV/Getty Images
Another day, another dehumanizing meme from the White House trying to appropriate cultural signifiers into their pro-ICE agenda. This time, it’s the Saturday Night Live song “Big Boys” featuring SZA. A song that went viral two years ago. The video posted by the White House social media features images of detainment set to the part of the song when SZA sings “It’s cuffing season.” If you think that sucks, SZA agrees. On Twitter, the SOS singer wrote that the White House’s current trend of “rage baiting artists for free promo is PEAK DARK.” She added that the technique is “Evil n Boring.” SZA’s manager Punch also came out against the video, writing “Trying to provoke artist to respond in order to help spread propaganda and political agendas is nasty business. Knock it off.”
SZA is just the latest artist pushing back against the Trump administration’s use of their music. Last week, Sabrina Carpenter objected to their use of “Juno” in another pro-ICE video. The first Carpenter video was taken down, but a second one appeared shortly after, using her SNL promo vid. Who on the White House social team is a huge SNL fan, and how do they feel about James Austin Johnson’s impression?
