Pokémon says 'permission not granted' for use of theme song in ICE raid video
Pokémon Company International confirmed it was “not involved in the creation” of the US Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid video, where footage and the Pokémon theme song were used.
The company said in a statement sent to Variety, “We are aware of a recent video posted by the Department of Homeland Security that includes imagery and language associated with our brand. Our company was not involved in the creation or distribution of this content, and permission was not granted for the use of our intellectual property.”
On Monday, Sept. 22, the department posted the minute-long video on their X account. As the Pokémon theme song played, the video showed border patrol and ICE agents making arrests. Interspersed with the arrest clips is footage showing main character Ash from the opening credits of the Pokémon animé TV show.
The lyrics “Gotta catch ‘em all” are repeated several times.
In the last few seconds, the video shows altered Pokémon trading cards edited to bear clear mugshots of a few of the arrested individuals labelled with their alleged crimes, including child molestation, pedophilia, human smuggling, burglary and fraud, manslaughter, and murder.
This is the second video the Department of Homeland Security posted this week that used content without permission from its owner.
On Tuesday, Theo Von, a comedian and host of the podcast This Past Weekend, wrote on X that he didn’t approve the use of his audio clips on one of DHS’s videos.
The since-deleted 31-second video, posted with the caption “Bye,” begins with an audio snippet of Von saying, “Heard you got deported, dude—bye.” It goes on to show text that claims DHS has deported two million illegal immigrants within the first 250 days of US president Donald Trump’s second term.
After taking office in January, Trump launched an immigration crackdown and pushed for mass deportations.
