Jess Glynne has hit out at the White House for its use of the viral Jet2 Holidays trend to promote its ICE deportations – see what she had to say below.
- READ MORE: Soundtrack Of My Life: Jess Glynne
In recent weeks, Glynne’s 2015 hit ‘Hold My Hand’ has enjoyed a resurgence thanks to nearly millions of TikTok users and counting sharing nightmare holiday experience, soundtracked by a soundbite of the song and a Jet2holiday tagline.
The cheery jingle has now soundtracked 1.9million videos on TikTok and countless others on other social media platforms, with nearly all showing clips of nightmare holiday experiences. These include fights on planes, drunken accidents and travel delays, with the audio becoming shorthand for holidays gone wrong.
Yesterday (July 30), the official White House account on X/Twitter shared a distasteful post depicting numerous immigrants being deported out of the United States, soundtracked by the Jet2 Holiday soundbite.
When ICE books you a one-way Jet2 holiday to deportation. ✈️🎶
Nothing beats it! pic.twitter.com/hlLapr9QsE
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 29, 2025
Following the post going viral, Jess Glynne took to her Instagram Stories to criticise the White House’s post: “This post honestly makes me sick. My music is about love, unity, and spreading positivity – never about division or hate.” You can see her post here.
The White House’s post comes as the United States kicked off a string of immigrant deportations across the country in early June. These began in Los Angeles and led to riots and protests, as well as countless musicians speaking out against the mass deportations, including Olivia Rodrigo, Bruce Springsteen, Green Day, Addison Rae, Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello and more.
Ethel Cain, Sophie Thatcher and Boy Harsher were also among over 100 artists to have joined a campaign calling for the abolition of ICE.
Back in 2018, Jess Glynne previously caught flack for the song being “overplayed” by Jet2, with some social media users complaining: “That Jess Glynne song on Jet 2 planes makes me wanna smash my head against the window”.
In response, Glynne empathised with her critics, saying: “I’m gonna just say to Jet2 and to everybody out there, look – I didn’t make them do it like that. I agreed to, you know, let them have my song and, you know, I apologise if it annoys you!”
She continued: “Thing is I understand though, when you hear something over and over again and apparently they play it like seven times before they take off so… You know, it’s a lot!”
Earlier this month, Glynne met the voice behind the viral ad – pair then went on to recreate the ad live on air, with Glynne handling vocals and Lister reciting the infamous slogan alongside her
