Hours after walking the 2026 Grammys red carpet in an “ICE Out” pin alongside her brother FINNEAS, Billie Eilish used her acceptance speech to send a kiss-off to ICE agents and Border Patrol in Minneapolis amid the recent death of ICU nurse Alex Pretti.
The pop star accepted the Grammy for Song of the Year for her track, “Wildflower,” and appeared to get choked up delivering a political statement about the violent ICE raids taking place in Minnesota.
“Thank you so much. I can’t believe this. Everyone else in this category is so amazing. I love you so much,” Billie said while standing next to her brother FINNEAS, who also wore an “ICE Out” pin on the lapel of his blazer.
“I feel so honored every time I get to be in this room. As grateful as I feel, I honestly don’t feel like I need to say anything but that no one is illegal on stolen land,” she continued. “And, yeah, it’s just really hard to know what to say and what to do right now, and I feel really hopeful in this room, and I feel like we just need to keep fighting and speaking up and protesting, and our voices really do matter, and the people matter, and fuck ICE. That’s all I’m going to say. Sorry. Thank you so much.”
Billie was far from the only artist to bring up ICE and their immigrant backgrounds during their acceptance speeches. While accepting the Grammy award for Best Música Urbana Album, Bad Bunny kicked off his speech by saying “ICE Out.”
“We’re not savage. We’re not animals. We’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans. Also, I want to say to the people....I know it’s tough not to hate on these days, and I was thinking sometimes we get contaminamos,” he continued. “The hate gets more powerful with more hate. The only thing that’s more powerful than hate is love, so please, we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love. If we don’t hate them, we love our people, and we love our family. And that’s the way to do it—with love.”
Olivia Dean, meanwhile, used her Best New Artist acceptance speech to shoutout immigrants and give a nod to her own immigrant heritage amid the mounting ICE raids in the United States.
“I’m up here as the granddaughter of an immigrant. I’m a product of bravery, and I think those people deserve to be celebrated,” she said, concluding her speech by with, “We’re nothing without each other, thank you so much.”
