The Grammys calling out ICE: Should celebrities just stick to entertainment?

The Grammys have often been associated with tangled taste, diluted choices, plus lingering questions about structural injustice within both the Academy and the wider cultural platform of music. This year, that familiar noise was still present, but it was overtaken by something louder. A persistent rhythm of political outcry ran through the awards night.

Across red carpets and acceptance speeches, artists used the moment not to posture, but to stand alongside communities they relate to, feel responsible for or are allied with. In a global climate shaped by migration crackdowns plus a steady flow of hostility towards difference, the message landed clearly:

When political consequences are this visible and injustice this widespread, silence or ambivalence no longer reads as poise or professionalism. It reads as distance and disconnection from reality.

The Grammys: artist responsibility

The 2026 Grammys offered a clear illustration of how artists are choosing to use their platforms in moments of heightened political tension. Across the evening, opinions were not hidden or softened. They were expressed openly, with an understanding that speaking from a global stage invites criticism, challenge and consequence.

On the red carpet, guests including Billie Eilish, Justin and Hailey Bieber, Lady Gaga, Kehlani, Justin Vernon, plus Jack Antonoff wore “ICE Out” pins. The symbolism reflected current events. ICE officers have been deployed across US cities as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation initiative, with particularly aggressive activity in Minnesota and Minneapolis. These operations have drawn widespread criticism following the fatal shootings of civilians Renee Good and Alex Pretti earlier this year.

On stage, that stance became explicit through the language artists chose to use. Kehlani set the tone early in the night while accepting Best R&B Performance for “Folded”, using the moment to call for collective action. “I hope everybody’s inspired to join together as a community of artists and speak out against what’s going on,” they said, before closing with “F**k ICE.” Their remarks established a cadence that others followed.

Accepting Song of the Year, Billie Eilish stated, “No one is illegal on stolen land” before closing her speech also with “F**k ICE”. Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican artist who had just won Album of the Year for Debí Tirar Más Fotos, the first Spanish-language album ever to do so at the Grammys as well as Best Música Urbana Album, opened his remarks by saying “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ICE out,” continuing, “we’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.” These comments landed just ahead of his upcoming Super Bowl LX halftime show on the 8th February only adding to its significance.

Shaboozey echoed this focus on contribution rather than threat. He won Best Country Duo/Group Performance with Jelly Roll at the ceremony and used his acceptance to highlight the role of immigrants in shaping culture and community, saying “immigrants built this country” while dedicating his award to immigrant families and their cultural contributions.

Other artists spoke through personal lineage. Olivia Dean, accepting Best New Artist, framed her success through her family’s migration story. “I’m a granddaughter of an immigrant. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.” In a UK context where immigration dominates political debate and negative rhetoric has become increasingly normalised, particularly with the rise of Reform UK and Nigel Farage, that statement resonated far beyond the room.

The scrutiny did not stop with artists. Host Trevor Noah’s monologue sparked controversy after a joke referencing Donald Trump’s involvement with Jeffrey Epstein, plus other political critiques more broadly. Trump responded by threatening legal action and accusing Noah of defamation.

That reaction highlights the environment in which artists and cultural figures are operating. Speaking up carries reputational, professional plus legal risk. Choosing to engage is rarely comfortable, yet opting out carries its own implications.

The approaches across the night varied. Some artists spoke directly. Others leaned into personal history or symbolic gesture. What connected them was a willingness to use their platform to draw attention to conversations they believed warranted visibility. Surface issues some of their global audiences may not otherwise encounter and to concentrate attention in a media landscape where attention itself shapes discourse.

Beyond entertainment: the reality of platform power

A familiar critique resurfaces every awards season. Celebrities should stick to entertaining. Politics, some argue, has no place on stage. Music, too, in this framing, is positioned as separate from civic or political life.

That instinct is easy to understand. When politics feels exhausting and relentless, switching off can feel like self-preservation. For some, stepping back from political conversations is an option. For others, particularly those whose lives, families, or communities are directly affected by policy and public rhetoric, that option does not exist. Culture and politics are not experienced as separate things.

This tension resurfaced again as Ricky Gervais’ Golden Globes monologue made the rounds online once more, reminding artists that they are “in no position to lecture the public”, supposedly insulated from reality by fame.

There is some truth in that critique. But placed in today’s context of influence and relevance, it feels increasingly out of step with how power actually moves.

Influence has been decentralised from institutions or experts. Much of it now travels through culture, through attention, through people who command trust and visibility at scale. 

People are glued to their phones. Culture is consumed in clips, soundbites and memes. For many, creators, artists and influencers are not a distraction from reality but one of the main ways they make sense of it. TikTok, X, YouTube, Reels. This is where attention gathers, where conversations begin and where the zeitgeist takes shape.

In that reality, pretending artists sit outside the political landscape does not hold. They operate inside the same digital ecosystems of outrage, journalism and fatigue as everyone else. Some of them are likely doomscrolling just like you or I are. Others, perhaps mercifully, are not. The point still stands.

Expecting them to keep their heads down on issues that affect their audiences, their communities, their friends, or their own identities feels increasingly contrived. Whether they always get it right can be debated. Whether they are perfectly informed is open to challenge. But debate cannot happen if nothing is said at all, particularly when their visibility carries weight in today’s attention economy.

Dismissing them outright, or assuming ignorance by default, misses the point. It overlooks both their capacity to shape conversation and the reality of how influence works now.

What does this mean for leadership beyond the stage

The Grammys did not resolve immigration policy. They did, however, offer a useful illustration of how leadership shows up when attention is concentrated plus stakes are visible.

For business leaders, the relevance stretches well beyond celebrity culture. Employees, consumers, plus communities are paying close attention to who speaks, who stays silent, plus how organisations position themselves when judgment is required.

Inclusive leadership today requires confidence as much as intention. It involves understanding a shifting cultural landscape, recognising how attention now functions as currency, plus knowing when voice carries weight. Representation has moved from statement to practice, from aspiration to pattern.

This is the space we work in with businesses. Supporting leaders to remain relevant by building cultural awareness, strengthening confidence, plus navigating an environment where attention shapes perception at speed. Not to manufacture responses, but to act with clarity when moments arise.

When your moment arrives, what will your response signal?