Artists at the Grammys protested against ICE in their speeches, in addition to many more wearing ‘ICE OUT’ pins and badges. ICE OUT is a protest movement to get ICE to cease its operations and treat immigrants more humanely.
British artist Olivia Dean, in her speech for best new artist, said she’s the granddaughter of an immigrant and that she wouldn’t be there without her. Deans’ grandmother was a part of the Windrush generation, and her first time flying on a plane was when she came over to the UK to start an entirely new life at age 18. Dean stated in her speech that she was a ‘product of bravery’ and immigrants ‘deserved to be celebrated’. Dean's grandmother was a large influence on her 2023 album MESSY.
American artist, Billie Eilish, also mentioned ICE in her speech, for Song of the Year, saying, ‘no one is illegal on stolen land'. This references the colonisation of the Americas by Europeans, which started in the early 15th century and continued into the early 19th century. Essentially, she argues that the Europeans stole lands from the natives, so no one can be illegal in America. This sparked controversy as through invoking colonialism people questioned Eilish herself. Her three-million-dollar home is situated on land belonging to the Tongva tribe of the greater Los Angeles Basin. People on social media have pointed out the irony of living on indigenous land whilst calling out colonialism.
I think ‘Ice Out’ is a very clear, simple piece of rhetoric, and it's easy to understand: “ICE is doing bad things in American cities, and we want them out.” Eilish then added the ‘stolen land’ aspect, which complicates matters and adds new historical and ethical debates about colonialism and land ownership. I think she shouldn’t have brought up stolen land and stayed with the main message of ICE OUT, which she kind of did at the end of her speech, by ending it with “fuck ice”, but should’ve been the main message.
I think ‘Ice Out’ is a very clear, simple piece of rhetoric, and it's easy to understand...
In my opinion, the best speech on ICE came from Bad Bunny for his win for Best Música Urbana album. Whilst Bad Bunny himself is a U.S. citizen because Puerto Rico, where he was born and raised, is a territory of the United States. A large part of Bad Bunny’s fan base is from the Latino community, who are disproportionately affected by ICE raids, which caused him to cancel his US tour dates out of fear that his concerts would be targeted by ICE. Bad Bunny said “ice out” to a massive round of applause, then proceeded to say, ‘We're not savage. We're not animals. We're not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans.’ He said it’s tough not to hate in these times, that we are contaminated by hate and that ‘hate gets more powerful with more hate’. He stated, ‘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’.