Billie Eilish's brother knocks 'powerful old white men' over Grammys speech criticism

Billie Eilish’s brother and musical collaborator, Finneas O’Connell, on Wednesday ripped into “powerful old white men” who criticized his sister’s comments about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Grammy Awards on Sunday. “Seeing a lot of very powerful old white men outraged about what my 24 year old sister said during her acceptance speech,” O’Connell wrote on Threads. “We can literally see your names in the Epstein files.” Eilish took to the stage with her brother after she won the Grammy Award for song of the year for “Wildflower.” Both were among the musicians and songwriters in attendance wearing pins that read “ICE out,” a condemnation of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) immigration crackdown after two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were killed in separate shootings in Minneapolis in January. “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 onstage. “It’s just really hard to know what to say and what to do right now” “And I just 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 really do matter, and the people matter,” she continued. “And f‑‑‑ ICE is all I want to say.” Eilish called ICE a “federally funded and supported terrorist group” after an immigration officer shot and killed Good. She later called out other celebrities who she suggested were staying silent after Pretti was killed, writing in an Instagram Story, “hey my fellow celebrities u gonna speak up? Or.” Singer Bad Bunny also called for “ICE out” while accepting his album of the year award. “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ICE out,” the Puerto Rican artist said. “We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans.” The remarks at the Grammys drew some pushback. Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) said Eilish should forfeit her award “and probably her mansion, which, I guess, is on stolen land, too.” “It’s ridiculous. It’s — these people are completely out of touch, and so, whatever. Yeah,” Schmitt told independent journalist Nicholas Ballasy on Thursday. “Shark Tank” host Kevin O’Leary also criticized Eilish during an interview on Fox News this week, saying “the first lesson 101 for celebrity: as you rise up, whether you’re a film star or music star or whatever, shut your mouth and just entertain.” Actor Mark Ruffalo fired back at O’Leary on Threads, telling him “why don’t you STFU.” “You will go on any show and talk s‑‑‑ about any number of things and smugly expect us to listen to you, but you will dig into a real artist that dwarfs anything you dream of doing for actually saying something that resonates with 100’s of millions of people the world over,” the “Avengers” actor wrote Thursday. “It’s astounding the fantasy double standard Kevin O’Leary lives in.” Neither O’Leary nor Schmitt appear in the Jeffrey Epstein files released by the Department of Justice.