Pop superstar Billie Eilish turned her Song of the Year acceptance speech at Sunday night’s Grammy Awards into a blunt political statement, spending little time on gratitude and instead delivering an explicit message aimed at U.S. immigration enforcement.
Standing onstage at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles alongside her brother and longtime collaborator Finneas, Eilish wore an “ICE Out” pin and framed her remarks around protest and activism rather than music. After briefly acknowledging the moment, she pivoted quickly to politics.
“It’s really hard to know what to say and what to do right now,” Eilish told the audience. “We need to keep speaking up and keep protesting. Our voices really do matter and the people matter.”
She then closed her remarks with a profanity-laced attack on Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“And fuck ICE. That’s all I’m going to say. Sorry. Thank you so much.”
The comment was met with loud applause from the crowd inside the arena.
Eilish was far from alone in making a political statement during the ceremony. Several celebrities, including Justin Bieber, Kehlani, and Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon, were also seen wearing “ICE Out” pins. The display was framed as solidarity with left-wing activists protesting the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, which have become rallying points for anti-ICE demonstrations.
Billie Eilish at the Grammys: “Nobody is illegal on stolen land. We need to keep fighting and speaking up. Our voices do matter…f*ck ICE.”
Should artists use award speeches for political statements?— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 2, 2026
Political messaging continued later in the night when Puerto Rican pop star Bad Bunny used his own acceptance speech to deliver a similar theme. Before thanking God or his supporters, Bad Bunny made a point of echoing the same slogan.
“Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ICE out,” he said. “We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.”
He went on to urge the audience to respond to political division with love rather than hatred, saying that hate only grows stronger when met with more hate.
“I know it’s tough to know not to hate on these days,” he said, briefly switching between English and Spanish. “The hate gets more powerful with more hate. The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love.”
The speeches underscored a broader trend at the Grammys, where entertainment and activism once again collided on one of the industry’s biggest stages. For viewers hoping for a night focused solely on music, the ceremony instead delivered a heavy dose of political messaging, complete with applause from an audience largely aligned with the sentiments being expressed.
