Topline
Jess Glynne, the British singer whose song “Hold My Hand” is included in the viral “Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday” TikTok audio, slammed the White House for using the sound in a video of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers deporting migrants.
The official White House social media accounts posted a video Tuesday night depicting ICE agents deporting migrants, set to a viral TikTok sound that users typically use in videos depicting their vacation disasters or other chaotic incidents.
The sound, in which a British woman narrates a vacation deal offered by the Jet2 airline, includes a clip of singer Jess Glynne’s 2015 hit “Hold My Hand.”
The White House captioned its post: “When ICE books you a one-way Jet2 holiday to deportation,” adding, “Nothing beats it!”
Glynne slammed the White House in a post on Instagram Wednesday morning, stating the post makes her “sick” because her music is about “love, unity, and spreading positivity - never about division or hate.”
The post went viral on social media, garnering 7 million views as of Wednesday afternoon, with some users expressing outrage: “Jet2 should sue the White House and I’m not even joking,” one user posted on X, garnering 81,000 likes.
Jet2 has not responded to the White House’s post (Forbes has reached out for comment).
The “Jet2 Holiday” sound comes from a commercial that aired in 2024, though the airline has been using Glynne’s song in advertisements for years. In the ad, Jet2 offers a deal on a vacation package through Jet2holidays, a subsidiary company that sells vacations and tours. The sound has become one of this summer’s biggest TikTok trends. The audio has been used in nearly 2 million videos, many of which portray chaotic incidents, such as a person getting knocked over by a splash from a water slide or a woman almost getting hit by a rebounding axe at an axe throwing range. The most-liked video using the Jet2 sound, with nearly 38 million likes, depicts someone opening a huge curtain at a hotel only to reveal a tiny window. Jet2 has posted videos using the sound, and Glynne has referenced the trend onstage at her concerts. Last week, Glynne and the commercial’s narrator, Zoe Lister, met on a British radio show, where they performed the viral sound together.
The “Jet2 holiday” video is the latest example of the Trump administration using memes on its social media accounts. In a post earlier this month, the White House superimposed President Donald Trump’s face onto Superman, coinciding with the release of the new “Superman” movie, captioning the post: “Truth. Justice. The American Way. Superman Trump.” On Valentine’s Day, the White House account posted a card that said: “Roses are red, violets are blue, come here illegally and we’ll deport you.” The administration acknowledged its tendency to communicate through memes in a post a few weeks ago: “Nowhere in the Constitution does it say we can’t post banger memes,” the White House posted.
Trump administration leans in on memes, AI and MAGA messaging online (NBC News)