Billie Eilish’s brother, Finneas, is coming to her defense amid criticism over her anti-ICE speech at the 2026 Grammys.
“Seeing a lot of very powerful old white men outraged about what my 24 year old sister said during her acceptance speech. We can literally see your names in the Epstein files,” Finneas, 28, wrote via Threads on Wednesday, February 4.
Eilish, 24, was among the stars who made impassioned speeches about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Grammys on Sunday, February 1, as she accepted the Song of the Year prize for “Wildflower.” Finneas, the song’s cowriter and producer, joined her on stage.
After thanking the Recording Academy, Eilish said, “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.”
“And yeah it’s just really hard to know what to say and what to do right now and I just feel really hopeful in this room and I feel like we need to just keep fighting and speaking up and protesting. Our voices really do matter and people matter,” she added.
The singer appeared to say, “F*** ICE,” however, her words were bleeped out on the CBS broadcast of the event.
Both Eilish and Finneas wore “ICE Out” pins to the music awards ceremony, held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Bad Bunny, 31, also spoke out against ICE during his acceptance speech for Best Música Urbana Album for his LP, Debí Tirar Más Fotos.
“We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans,” Bunny, real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, said.
“I want to say to people, I know it’s tough not to hate in these days, and I was thinking we get contaminados — I don’t know how to say that in English,” he added, using the Spanish word for “contaminated.”
“The hate gets more powerful with more hate,” Bunny, who is Puerto Rican, continued. “The only thing that is more powerful than hate is love. So, please, we need to be different. If we fight, we have to do it with love. We don’t hate them. We love our people, we love our family and that’s the way to do it. With love. Don’t forget that, please.”
Fellow Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin praised Bunny’s speech in an open letter published in Puerto Rican newspaper El Nuevo Día on Tuesday, February 3.
“When you defended the immigrant community, when you pointed out a system that persecutes and separates, you spoke from a place I know very well, that place where fear and hope coexist, where millions live between languages, borders, and deferred dreams,” the “Livin’ la Vida Loca” singer wrote.
Martin also lauded Bunny for winning the night’s top prize, Album of the Year, for Debí Tirar Más Fotos. The record is the first Spanish-language album to receive the award.
Martin, 54, wrote, “This achievement is for a generation to whom you taught that their identity is non-negotiable and that success is not at odds with authenticity. From the heart, from one Boricua to another, with respect and love, I thank you for reminding us that when one of ours succeeds, we all succeed.”
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