The Tamesis
However glamorous the spectacle of an awards show may be, it does not exist in a political vacuum. This was evident at Sunday night’s 2026 Grammy Awards, where the violence of recent raids and attacks by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers cast a dark shadow over the evening — including on the red carpet.
One can’t help but roll their eyes at the thought of celebrities invoking real-world horrors in speeches at such events. Most people who qualify to attend the Grammys are privileged enough that the risk of being targeted, attacked, deported or even killed by organizations like ICE is very low, and it’s easy to sound out of touch when you’re standing on stage in a custom gown or suit and kicking yourself for almost forgetting to thank your manager.
That is, when political speech works, it real It works, and we got three powerful examples of it at this year’s Grammy Awards. “ICE get out of here,” Puerto Rican music superstar Bad Bunny told the crowd at Crypto.com Arena, his urgent plea for compassion and decency (“We are not savages, we are not animals, we are not aliens. We are human beings, we are Americans”) consistent with his politically aware public persona. Some people wake up the defense for good PR, this is clearly not it.
Shortly after Bad Bunny’s speech, Billie Eilish gave another great speech. “No one is on stolen land illegally,” she said. “I feel very hopeful in this room and I feel like we just need to keep fighting and speaking out and protesting that our voices do matter and people do matter.” Of course, cynical conservatives have begun to fall back on the old trap of, “Well, if it’s stolen land, then give up your mansion,” but Eilish has Been there Advocates for causes ranging from reproductive autonomy to Palestinian rights. Like “Bad Bunny,” her use of the language of political dissent was deep enough that she could bring it to the Grammy stage without sounding hollow.
However, perhaps the most effective pro-immigration message of the night came from Kehlani, who received two Grammy Awards in the ceremony before the main show. Their words were both inclusive and uncompromising: “Together, and in numbers, we can speak out against all the injustices happening in the world right now,” the artist said. “I hope everyone can be inspired to come together as an artist community and speak out against what’s going on and not have it be just a few here and there. I’m going to walk away from this and say, fuck ICE.”
Kehlani’s words reminded me of hacker star Hannah Einbinder’s speech at the 2025 Emmy Awards, which she concluded with “Go birdies, fuck ICE, free Palestine,” and other stars who have never shied away from expressing their political beliefs, no matter how dangerous or unfashionable. Consider what long-time activist Jane Fonda reminded us at the 2025 SAG Awards: “Empathy is not weakness or awakening — which, by the way, just means you care about other people.”
