The 2026 Grammy Awards, a night otherwise dedicated to celebrating music and honoring artists, was overtaken by a wave of anti-ICE sentiment in the US as several winners used the platform to condemn anti-immigration crackdowns across the country.
Echoing similar sentiments as Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish took the opportunity to criticize United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and wore an “ICE Out” to express her displeasure with the federal agency. (Reuters)Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, who won album of the year, declared “ICE out” during his acceptance speech to strongly condemn the actions of federal agents under Donald Trump’s administration.
“Before I say thank God, I’m going to say: ICE OUT,” Bad Bunny said.
“We are not savages, we are not animals, we are not aliens. We are human and we are Americans,” he added.
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Bad Bunny won the award for his album ‘Debi Tira’s Mas Photos’ and dedicated his win to “all the people who had to leave their homeland to follow their dreams”. “Thank you Aunty To give birth to me in Puerto Rico. I love you,” she said.
Olivia Dean, who was nominated for best new artist at the Grammys, used her time on stage to highlight her immigrant ancestry and said, “I never imagined I’d be here,” as she received her first Grammy.
“I’m here as the granddaughter of an immigrant. I won’t stay here… I’m a product of bravery, and I think these people deserve to be celebrated,” she said during her emotional speech.
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‘No one is illegal on stolen land’Echoing the same sentiment as Bad Bunny, American singer Billie Eilish also took the opportunity to criticize United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and wore an “ICE Out” pin to express her displeasure with the federal agency.
When accepting her song of the year award for ‘Wildflower’, Eilish said, “Nobody’s illegal on stolen land”. His reference, apparently, is to how the United States as a country was colonized by the British and others, a process that in part included the genocide of indigenous peoples.
“F*** ICE,” she said.
Damian Kulash, lead singer of the band OK Go, said it felt “irresponsible” to feel joy in the moment as the Trump administration tasked ICE agents with attacking “their own people.”
“Our own government has created an army of masked anonymous people to attack its own people and it seems totally irresponsible to us to celebrate anything right now,” he said.
Artists Decorate Anti-ICE Pins at Grammys 2026Besides Billie Eilish, many other artists also sported ‘ICE Out’ and other anti-ICE pins during the awards show.
“I think music is really important for all of us in the industry, in any industry. So I’m very happy to be wearing it today,” said songwriter Amy Allen, who wore an ‘ICE Out’ pin. He has written songs for artists such as Sabrina Carpenter and Harry Styles.
Jason Isbell, Margo Price, Kehlani and Rhiannon Giddens also wore anti-ICE pins or other accessories to show their protest against ICE.
Justin Vernon, whose band Bon Iver was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album, wore a whistle.
He said he wore it out of respect for legal observers who were documenting the actions of ICE agents.
“I think music exists for a reason and that’s to heal and bring people together,” he said, as quoted by the Associated Press. “But the real work is the observers on the ground in Minneapolis. We just want to shout them out,” he added.
(With input from AP, Reuters)