Olivia Rodrigo is still in disbelief over the United States government using her music to promote ICE, the actions of which the pop star called “disturbing” in a new cover story interview with British Vogue.
In the piece published Thursday (March 19), Rodrigo recalled finding out that her Guts track “All-American Bitch” had been paired with footage of immigration enforcement officers tackling and detaining people posted by the Department of Homeland Security. “That was awful. Dystopian,” she told the publication.
“The way that ICE is ripping apart communities and terrorizing people is so disturbing,” she continued. “It’s a really sad, scary time.”
Billboard has reached out to DHS for comment.
The incident in question took place in November, with the DHS specifically using “All-American Bitch” to threaten undocumented citizens with “consequences” if they didn’t “self-deport” using the Trump administration’s CBP Home app. At the time, Rodrigo wrote in the comments, “don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda.”
The Grammy winner has also spoken up against the agency in the past, joining numerous other artists in condemning ICE for carrying out mass deportations in immigrant communities and acting violently against some protestors — including Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both of whom were shot and killed by officers in Minneapolis.
Elsewhere in the new interview, Rodrigo teased her next album — which is apparently only about 70% finished — and confirmed fan suspicions that many of the songs are about being in love. There is a twist, though; the former Disney star explained that the LP is actually rife with “sad love songs,” having realized that all of her “favorite romantic love songs were beautiful because they had a tinge of fear or yearning in them.”
“[I thought] that the second I’m in a really great relationship, I’m gonna start feeling good about myself, and this stuff is going to fall into place,” said the musician, who was most recently linked to Louis Partridge. “But it just doesn’t work like that.”
See Rodrigo on the cover of British Vogue below.
