Jess Glynne: 'Hold My Hand' singer says White House post using her song to mock deportations makes her 'sick'
British singer Jess Glynne has spoken out against a video posted by the official White House X social media account that used her music in a now-viral clip depicting immigrants being deported.
The video, posted on July 29 and viewed over 7.7 million times on X (formerly Twitter), shows shackled men being escorted onto a plane operated by GlobalX, accompanied by the upbeat soundtrack from Jet2’s ad campaign, featuring Glynne’s 2015 hit “Hold My Hand.” The caption reads, “When ICE books you a one-way Jet2 holiday to deportation. Nothing beats it! ✈️🎶”
“This post honestly makes me sick,” Glynne wrote on Instagram. “My music is about love, unity, and spreading positivity - never about division or hate,” she added, alongside two swearing emojis.
Actress Zoë Lister-Jones, who voiced the original Jet2 holiday ad used in the post, also reacted in a now-expired Instagram Story: “What can be done about the White House using Jet2’s sound and my voiceover to promote their nasty agenda?”
The video closes with a shot of the CBP One app, a tool used by undocumented migrants to voluntarily leave the US, followed by a smiling President Trump giving a thumbs up. The ad has been widely criticised for making light of deportations. It's part of a string of provocative campaign-style clips from the White House account, including one where shackles clink in an ASMR-style video, and an animated mock-up of a woman crying as she’s taken into custody.
Commenters under the Jet2 deportation post called it "embarrassing" and “out of touch.” One user wrote, “You’d have to be a complete moron to find this acceptable on an official WH account,” while another added, “Our country is an embarrassment posting shit like this.”
The ad comes just weeks after Trump signed off on a $170 billion “Big Beautiful Bill” to fund immigration enforcement, making ICE the most well-funded federal law enforcement agency in U.S. history. Border crossings have since dropped to their lowest levels since the 1960s.