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Entertainment's awards play has coincided with the Trump administration's wide deportation run successful Minneapolis, forcing artists to determine whether and however to articulation the increasing taste revolt against migration crackdowns.
Pushback from music's biggest stars was disposable Sunday from the Grammys reddish carpet and passim the telecast. Activists spent the week pressing celebrities to don pins protesting the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement beingness successful cities, moving with their teams to dispersed the connection and circulating them astatine the galore events starring up to the ceremony.
Billie Eilish, Finneas and Carole King wore pins portion appearing onstage. Even Justin and Hailey Bieber, who don't usually code American politics, had them. Eilish began her opus of the twelvemonth code by professing that "no 1 is amerciable connected stolen land." British psyche popular vocalist Olivia Dean, recognized arsenic champion caller artist, shared that she is the granddaughter of an migrant - radical who she said "deserve to beryllium celebrated." Expletives flew arsenic U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement got cursed aggregate times by winners, including Kehlani.
"Before I accidental acknowledgment to God, I'm gonna say: ICE out," Bad Bunny said to a lasting ovation with roaring applause portion accepting the grant for champion música urbana album. "We're not savage, we're not animals, we're not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans."
"The hatred gets much almighty with much hate. The lone happening that is much almighty than hatred is love. So please, we request to beryllium different. If we fight, we person to bash it with love. We don't hatred them, we emotion our family. Don't hide it, that's however we bash it with love," helium added.
The predominant pushback and buttons' prevalence marked a overmuch stronger showing of enactment than organizers saw astatine past month's Golden Globes. Public backlash has grown since a Border Patrol serviceman changeable and killed 37-year-old caregiver Alex Pretti and national agents detained 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos. The caller apprehension of writer Don Lemon, who attended Sunday's ceremony, lone added to the outcry.
Plus, arsenic 1 organizer noted, the Grammys thin to gully a little risk-averse assemblage than Hollywood's shows.
Kehlani accepts the grant for champion R&B show for "Folded" during the 68th yearly Grammy Awards connected Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, successful Los Angeles.
AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
"These are folks who are known for six-stage shows, brainsick costumes, being benignant of rebellious, punk stone - similar that's the euphony industry. And so, I deliberation it makes consciousness that we would spot bully support," Maremoto Executive Director Jess Morales Rocketto said up of the show. "These pins are astir truthful overmuch much than a reddish carpet moment. It's astir radical taking a basal and doing what they tin to amusement up to accidental that ICE should beryllium retired of our communities."
Protest pins connected the reddish carpet
Jason Isbell, Margo Price, Kehlani and Rhiannon Giddens were among the different artists wearing protestation apparel connected the Grammys reddish carpet.
Billie Eilish, left, and Kehlani, right, deterioration "ICE OUT" pins astatine the 68th yearly Grammy Awards connected Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, successful Los Angeles.
Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Justin Vernon, whose set Bon Iver is up for champion alternate euphony album, said helium wore a whistle to grant the ineligible observers who are documenting national agents' actions connected the streets.
"I deliberation there's a crushed that euphony exists and it's to heal and to bring radical together," helium told The Associated Press. "But the existent enactment are those observers connected the connected the crushed successful Minneapolis. We conscionable privation to privation to outcry them out."
Earlier successful the week, Mexican American vocalist Becky G had an explicit connection for ICE connected the nails she wore to the MusiCares Person of the Year gala. And astatine the Sundance Film Festival, respective celebrities wore pins saying "ICE OUT" during their reddish carpet appearances, including Natalie Portman, Olivia Wilde and Zoey Deutch, who besides wore a "BE GOOD" pin, referencing Renee Good, who was killed by an ICE serviceman past month.
Wilde told the AP that she was "horrified by this drawstring of murders that we are someway legitimizing and normalizing."
"It's truly hard to beryllium present and to beryllium celebrating thing truthful joyous and beauteous and affirmative erstwhile we cognize what's happening connected the streets," she added. "Americans are retired connected the streets marching and demanding justice, and we're determination with them. And if we tin bash thing with our platforms, you know, we tin talk retired and request that ICE get out."
Portman got affectional erstwhile asked astir her "ICE OUT" pin astatine the premiere of her caller film, "The Gallerist."
"I'm truthful fortunate to beryllium present successful a joyful, originative assemblage celebrating a movie we're truly arrogant of. But it's intolerable to disregard what ICE is doing to our country. And I'm precise inspired, though, by each of the amazing, astonishing Americans who are coming retired and supporting each different and being determination successful communities. It's beautiful," the histrion said arsenic she teared up.
Reasons celebrities whitethorn not talk out
As acold arsenic the Grammys go, Morales Rocketto, the assemblage organizer who founded the Latino advocacy radical Maremoto, said it's "kind of a crapshoot" arsenic to which entertainers really deterioration the pins.
She described a scope of manufacture forces moving against artists' governmental expression. Objections could travel from grounds companies, managers oregon firm partners.
"Maybe the plan location that did their manner woody for the reddish carpet didn't privation them to virtually poke holes successful the dress," she said. "There's similar a cardinal reasons for radical not to bash it."
Artists mightiness besides look idiosyncratic dangers themselves. Morales Rocketto pointed to the Trump administration's threats to spot ICE agents astatine the upcoming Super Bowl halftime show by Bad Bunny, "one of the astir invincible" entertainers successful her view.
"I wouldn't beryllium amazed if we spot immoderate Latino artists wearing them," she said of the pins. "But the world is that conscionable due to the fact that Latino artists are affluent and famous, doesn't mean that they are exempt from the deficiency of information that permeates truthful galore Latinos and Latino families. They themselves whitethorn beryllium undocumented oregon lone person a greenish paper oregon person mixed presumption families."
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