Kesha is reassuring her fans who are concerned about the potential ban of TikTok in the U.S. by pointing out that her hit single “Tik Tok” will always be available.
In an Instagram video posted on Saturday, January 18, the singer appeared wearing a black hoodie, listening to a segment of her popular 2010 song with her eyes closed. She captioned the video with, “TikTok may come and go, but TiK ToK is timeless,” along with a peace sign and black heart emoji.
The song was an instant hit when it debuted, spending nine weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
During a performance in Oakland, California, in 2023, Kesha made a notable alteration to the opening lyrics of the song, changing it from, “Wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy” to “Wake up in the morning feeling just like me.” This change was influenced by a legal case involving Cassie (also known as Cassandra Ventura) who filed a lawsuit against Diddy in November 2023, accusing him of sexual assault and misconduct. Diddy has refuted all accusations made against him.
Since Cassie’s lawsuit, many others have also come forward with allegations against the disgraced music mogul. Diddy has continued to deny the allegations against him, and is currently incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York.
During her 2024 Coachella set, Kesha changed the opening line of her song again, this time to, “Wake up in the mornin’ like f—k P. Diddy.” In May of the same year, she confirmed the lyric swap was permanent after she was approached by TMZ at LAX airport.
“Yes, it will be, so the fans should learn it for my upcoming shows. I want to hear it louder than ever,” she said. “I stand by that.”
“I’m not the kind of person that just shuts the f— up, I know what I stand for, I know my integrity is rock solid so I speak the truth,” Kesha continued. “And the industry can kind of like suck my d—.”
As for the social media app of the same name, the Supreme Court has upheld the U.S. government’s proposed TikTok ban, and the app’s owners ByteDance have pledged to make the app inaccessible for users in the United States beginning at midnight Sunday, January 19.
The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act was proposed after Congress expressed worries about espionage on behalf of China by ByteDance. The company has said they will remove TikTok from smartphone app stores. The parent company later explained on Friday that they will cut off services and “go dark” unless the U.S. assures Apple and Google that they won’t be penalized for hosting and distributing TikTok.
The loss of the app will have a major impact on content creators and influencers who earn income through the TikTok Creator Fund, as well as those who earn revenue through brand sponsorships and by selling merchandise on the platform.
