Billie Eilish defended her propensity for making public political statements against the Trump administration, ICE and billionaires like Elon Musk, asking Elle magazine, “Why is it controversial?”
Eilish appears on the latest cover of Elle ahead of the forthcoming theatrical release of her new concert movie, “Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D).” During the interview, Eilish was asked about her decision to speak out against ICE at the Grammys earlier this year.
“I was raised like this,” Eilish said in response. “When you have this insane platform that you can use to advocate for people, but you’re not advocating for people because you don’t want to be controversial? Why is it controversial to step in when someone’s getting bullied and try to stop it? Yeah, you’re probably gonna have to deal with some problems, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.”
Eilish wore an “ICE OUT” pin to this year’s Grammys. Additionally, while accepting the award for Song of the Year with her brother Finneas O’Connell for her song “Wildflower,” she used part of her speech to make some headline-grabbing political statements.
“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,” Eilish said while on stage at the awards ceremony. “It’s just really hard to know what to say and what to do right now and I feel really hopeful in this room and I feel like we just need to keep fighting and speaking up and protesting. Our voices really do matter, the people matter. And f–k ICE.”
In November 2025, Eilish also called out billionaires like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg at the Wall Street Journal Innovator Awards. (Zuckerberg was, notably, in attendance at the event.)
“We’re in a time right now where the world is really, really bad and really dark and people need empathy and help,” Eilish said while accepting an award at the ceremony. “Love you all, but there’s a few people in here that have a lot more money than me. If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, give your money away.”
That same month, Eilish criticized Musk on her Instagram page as he edged closer to becoming a trillionaire, calling him a “f—king pathetic pussy b—h coward” for not giving more of his money away.
