No matter how glamorous a scene they set, awards shows don’t exist in a political vacuum. That was clear enough at the 2026 Grammy Awards on Sunday night, where the violence of recent raids and assaults by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers loomed darkly over the evening—including on the red carpet.
It’s tempting to roll one’s eyes toward the heavens at the thought of celebrities invoking real-world horrors in their speeches at such events. Most people in the position to attend something like the Grammys are insulated by enough privilege to make the risk of being targeted, attacked, deported, or even killed by a group like ICE very low, and it’s easy to sound out of touch when you’re standing on a stage in a custom gown or suit and chiding yourself for nearly forgetting to thank your manager.
That said, when a political speech works, it really works, and we got three potent examples of that at this year’s Grammys. “ICE out,” Puerto Rican musical superstar Bad Bunny told the audience at the Crypto.com Arena, his urgent plea for compassion and decency (“we’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans”) aligning with his politically conscious public persona. Some woke line of defense for the sake of good PR, this was obviously not.
Not long after Bad Bunny’s speech came another good one, from Billie Eilish. “No one is illegal on stolen land,” she said. “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 do matter, and the people matter.” Of course, sneering conservatives are already reaching for the old, “Well, if it’s stolen land, then give up your mansion” saw, but Eilish has been advocating for causes ranging from reproductive autonomy to Palestinian rights. Like Bad Bunny, she’d been steeped enough in the language of political dissent to bring it to the Grammys stage without sounding hollow.
Yet perhaps the night’s most effective pro-immigrant messaging came from Kehlani, who collected two Grammys during a ceremony before the main show. Their remarks were as inclusive as they were uncompromising: “Together we’re stronger in numbers to speak against all of the injustice going on in the world right now,” the artist said. “Instead of letting it be just a couple few here and there, I hope everybody is inspired to join together as a community of artists and speak out against what’s going on. And I’m gonna leave this and say, fuck ICE.”
Kehlani’s words reminded me of Hacks star Hannah Einbinder’s speech at the 2025 Emmy Awards, which she concluded with “go Birds, fuck ICE, and free Palestine”—as well as of other stars who have never shied away from voicing their political beliefs, no matter how risky or unfashionable. Just think of career-long activist Jane Fonda reminding us at the 2025 SAG Awards that “empathy is not weak or woke—and by the way, woke just means that you give a damn about other people.”
Of course, you don’t have to swear, or even take a direct swipe at ICE, in order to express a pro-immigrant message on one of the most high-profile nights in music, as Olivia Dean proved when she accepted her Grammy for best new artist. “I’m up here as a granddaughter of an immigrant,” she said. “I’m a product of bravery, and I think those people deserve to be celebrated.”
Dean’s message may have been more palatable to the general viewing public than Bad Bunny’s, Kehlani’s, or Eilish’s, but ultimately, giving a meaningful speech doesn’t look or sound like just one thing. Sometimes, all that really matters is that you’ve made people listen.
