Ariana Grande Launches Charitable Foundation Amid White House Music Controversy

Ariana Grande has launched a charitable foundation focused on supporting vulnerable communities, shortly after publicly condemning the White House for using her music in a social media post promoting US immigration arrests.

The Brighter Days Ahead Foundation, announced on Friday, will support causes including LGBTQ+ rights, mental healthcare, reproductive justice, and emergency relief through four separate funds.

“I am beyond excited to finally announce the Brighter Days Ahead Foundation,” Grande said in a statement posted on social media.

“Our mission is to support, protect, and provide resources for our vulnerable friends in need. Through four different funds, we will be supporting handfuls of incredible organisations that provide the safe space and care that is desperately needed by so many right now.”

The foundation’s four funding streams include the Protect & Defend Fund, which supports grassroots groups advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, civil rights, and reproductive justice; the Heal & Dream Fund, which aims to expand access to mental healthcare and community support; the Seen & Celebrated Fund, focused on amplifying LGBTQ+ voices and stories; and the Emergency Support Fund, which provides rapid aid during moments of crisis.

Organisations that have already received support from the foundation include Lambda Legal, Trans Lifeline, Transgender Law Center, National Queer & Trans Therapists of Color Network, Save the Children UK, Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, and New York Cares.

Grande said the foundation was meant to formalise philanthropic work she had previously supported independently. “It has been my privilege to be able to support these causes on my own over the years,” she said. “I’m grateful to now be able to expand that reach and amplify the life-saving work that these organisations do through the Brighter Days Ahead foundation.”

The foundation takes its name from Brighter Days Ahead, a short film Grande released in March 2025 alongside the deluxe edition of her 2024 album Eternal Sunshine. The film, which Grande co-directed with Christian Breslauer, explores themes of memory, healing, and hope.

Grande has long used her platform to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and mental health support. In 2022, she launched the Protect & Defend Trans Youth Fund on Trans Day of Visibility and pledged to match donations up to $1.5m, helping raise more than $3m for 18 organisations supporting trans youth in the US amid a wave of anti-trans legislation.

In 2021, she partnered with Better Help to provide $2m worth of free therapy to fans. Last year, she joined more than 100 celebrities, including Pedro Pascal and Daniel Radcliffe, in signing an open letter calling on the US government to preserve federal funding for LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention services.

The Brighter Days Ahead Foundation’s announcement came a day after Grande criticised the White House over the unauthorised use of her 2024 song Bye in a video posted to the official White House TikTok account.

The video, captioned “Bye-bye. President Trump has delivered the most secure border in history”, showed officers from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detaining and handcuffing immigrants during enforcement operations.

The singer responded directly in the comments, writing: “Please do not ever use my music in relation to this barbaric, inhumane, heinous nonsense.”

A source close to Grande’s team told Reuters they were looking into having the music removed, and the song was muted from the video within hours.

Responding to the row, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told The Independent: “We’ll say this one last time: what’s actually barbaric, inhumane, and heinous are the criminal illegal aliens who have injured and murdered innocent American citizens.”

Since returning to office in January 2025, US president Donald Trump has expanded ICE enforcement operations in major US cities while pushing policies aimed at accelerating deportations and increasing border detentions.

Grande is currently on her 41-date ‘Eternal Sunshine’ tour. Her first concert tour since 2019 began in Oakland, California, on 6 June, and was scheduled to run through September, including multiple dates at London’s O2 Arena.

The Wicked star is also preparing to release her eighth studio album Petal on 31 July.

Last month, she released the album's lead single, “Hate That I Made You Love Me”, which debuted at No 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the singer's 10th chart-topping single in the US.