Katy Perry ‘deeply appalled’ over White House using her song in Iran war video

Katy Perry condemned the White House for using her song 'Firework' without permission in a TikTok video showing military strikes on Iran, stating the song was written as an anthem of hope and healing, not to soundtrack violence. She joins multiple artists—including Olivia Rodrigo, Beyoncé, Kesha, Sabrina Carpenter, Ariana Grande, and Jess Glynne—who have objected to the Trump administration's unauthorized use of their music in government social media posts promoting military action or deportations. The article also notes controversy over how US casualties in the Iran conflict are being counted and whether the resumed strikes constitute a legally distinct campaign.

Teaching:
• When students misapply a cue or technique you taught for one purpose (e.g., using bandhas for grounding) to force a posture they're not ready for, address the violation of intent—context determines meaning in practice as in art
• Use this as a theme for how practice can be co-opted: the same breath technique that calms the nervous system can be weaponized to override pain signals; teach discernment between skillful and unskillful application
• Discuss with students how their personal practice 'soundtrack'—mantras, intentions, mental cues—can be misused by the ego to justify harm (pushing through injury, spiritual bypassing); practice requires constant re-checking of intent

Writing seeds:
• Essay: 'What Your Practice Stands For'—on how techniques (breath, bandha, drishti) are neutral until applied with intent; explore how students must own the ethical frame of their practice or risk it being co-opted by ambition, comparison, or self-harm
• Shala Daily post: Artists objecting to misuse of their work as metaphor for teachers watching students misapply teachings; short reflection on responsibility to correct misinterpretation in real-time
• Post for ashtanga.tech: 'Authorization vs. Appropriation'—on how the Ashtanga authorization system attempts to preserve teaching integrity, paralleling artists' need to control how their work is used; what happens when method is separated from ethics
• Essay: 'The Firework Problem'—using Perry's statement as frame to explore how yoga's language of 'inner strength' and 'transformation' gets weaponized in wellness culture to justify overwork, bypassing, or ignoring systemic harm

Idea map:
• Systems literacy: Perry's objection shows how meaning emerges from context and intent, not inherent properties—same song, radically different message depending on system it's embedded in; applies to how asana sequences function differently in different teaching contexts
• Practice as method: The controversy over whether resumed Iran strikes count as a 'separate campaign' mirrors debates in Ashtanga about what constitutes a 'practice' (daily vs. occasional, full vs. split series)—naming and counting shape reality
• Attention and ethics: Multiple artists objecting to unauthorized use points to attention economy dynamics—government co-opts cultural products to hijack emotional associations; similar to how yoga brands co-opt practice language to sell unrelated products
• Embodiment: Perry wrote 'Firework' for people in 'darkest personal moments'—embodied, individual experience—while White House used it for collective, abstract violence; the gap between personal practice and how it's publicly represented or commodified

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/26/katy-perry-firework-song-iran-war-video