Steve Downes, the voice actor behind Halo protagonist, Master Chief, is the latest to call out a recent video posted by the official White House X (formerly Twitter) account, which uses clips from several popular film, TV, and video game franchises mixed together with real-life footage of the United States bombing Iran.
The video in question reuses a lot of the footage included in the video that Chance Glasco, one of the original developers of Call of Duty, called out just last week, when Glasco shared that the video was not a surprise for him. Not because videos like this have become something of a norm for the official White House account to make and upload, but because Activision once allegedly pressured Call of Duty developers to make a game where Iran invaded Israel.
Downes, in his case, doesn't reveal any previously unknown concepts for a new Halo game, but instead makes his thoughts on the video clear with more blunt language.
"It has come to my attention that there is at least one propaganda video circulating that was either produced or at the very least endorsed by the White House that uses images of Master Chief and uses my voice to support the war in Iran," Downes begins. "Let me make this crystal clear: I did not participate nor was I consulted, nor do I endorse the use of my voice in this video, or the message it conveys."
"I demand that the producers of this disgusting and juvenile war porn remove my voice immediately."
As for getting his voice removed, outside of the video creators seeing Downes' request and taking it upon themselves to remove his voice (or, perhaps more likely, use a different Halo clip where Master Chief doesn't talk), it would be the job of Microsoft and Xbox to actually force the White House to remove the Halo content from the video.
The video, which was shared on the official White House account on March 5, is not the first one to include images of Halo and Master Chief. If Microsoft wanted to speak up and do something about it, the company probably would have by now.
Its silence, or at least the appearance of a lack of action, suggests that the company is at minimum unaware of the video (which is unlikely considering that Halo is not the only Microsoft-owned IP to be included), that it doesn't endorse the video but also doesn't care enough to step in, or that it endorses the use of its IPs in these videos.
The other factor here is that the video seems to be careful in how it uses clips from various franchises, by only including a few seconds of each film/TV/video game included, so it stays within the realms of fair use.
That said, if more of the actual owners of these franchises collectively spoke out against the use of their entertainment properties in these videos, then we'd likely see the White House stop producing them.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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