By JAMES POLLARD, Related Press
Leisure’s awards season has coincided with the Trump administration’s mass deportation marketing campaign in Minneapolis, forcing artists to resolve whether or not and find out how to be a part of the rising cultural revolt towards immigration crackdowns.
These questions once more surfaced Sunday as music’s greatest stars walked the crimson carpet on the Grammys. Activists spent the week urgent celebrities to don pins protesting the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in cities, working with their groups to unfold the message and circulating them on the many occasions main as much as the ceremony.
Organizers noticed a stronger exhibiting of help Sunday than at final month’s Golden Globes. Public backlash has grown since a Border Patrol officer shot and killed 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti and federal brokers detained 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos. The latest arrest of journalist Don Lemon solely added to the outcry.
Plus, as one organizer famous, the Grammys have a tendency to attract a much less risk-averse crowd than Hollywood’s reveals.
“These are folks who are known for six-stage shows, crazy costumes, being kind of rebellious, punk rock — like that’s the music industry. And so, I think it makes sense that we would see good support,” Maremoto Government Director Jess Morales Rocketto mentioned. “These pins are about so much more than a red carpet moment. It’s about people taking a stand and doing what they can to show up to say that ICE should be out of our communities.”
Earlier within the week, Mexican American singer Becky G had an specific message for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the nails she wore to the MusiCares Individual of the Yr gala.
Justin Vernon arrives on the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (Photograph by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Kehlani attends the 68th GRAMMY Awards on February 01, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photograph by Neilson Barnard/Getty Photos for The Recording Academy)
US singer Kehlani wears an ‘Ice Out’ pin as she arrives for the 68th Annual Grammy Awards on the Crypto.com Area in Los Angeles on February 1, 2026. (Photograph by Etienne Laurent / AFP by way of Getty Photos) / — IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE —
Canadian singer-Songwriter Joni Mitchell wears an ‘Ice Out’ pin as she accepts the Finest Historic Album award for “Joni Mitchell Archives – Volume 4: The Asylum Years 1976-1980” on stage in the course of the 68th Annual Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony on the Crypto.com Area in Los Angeles on February 1, 2026. (Photograph by VALERIE MACON / AFP by way of Getty Photos)
Amy Allen accepts the Songwriter of the Yr, Non-Classical award onstage in the course of the 68th GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony at Peacock Theater on February 01, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photograph by Frazer Harrison/Getty Photos)
Jeremy Ivey, left, and Margo Value arrive on the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (Photograph by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
US singer Jordan Tyson wears an ‘Ice Out’ pin as she arrives for the 68th Annual Grammy Awards on the Crypto.com Area in Los Angeles on February 1, 2026. (Photograph by Etienne Laurent / AFP by way of Getty Photos)
An ‘Ice Out’ pin is seen on US actress Helen J. Shen as she arrives for the 68th Annual Grammy Awards on the Crypto.com Area in Los Angeles on February 1, 2026. (Photograph by Etienne Laurent / AFP by way of Getty Photos)
‘Ice Out’ pins are seen on Pleasure Graves and US audio engineer Michael Graves as they arrive for the 68th Annual Grammy Awards on the Crypto.com Area in Los Angeles on February 1, 2026. (Photograph by Etienne LAURENT / AFP by way of Getty Photos)
An ‘Ice Out’ pin is seen on Pleasure Graves as she arrives for the 68th Annual Grammy Awards on the Crypto.com Area in Los Angeles on February 1, 2026. (Photograph by Etienne LAURENT / AFP by way of Getty Photos)
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Justin Vernon arrives on the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (Photograph by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
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Protest pins on the crimson carpet
Jason Isbell, Margo Value, Kehlani and Rhiannon Giddens have been among the many artists carrying protest attire on the Grammys crimson carpet. Kehlani cursed ICE in her acceptance speech for finest R&B efficiency.
Justin Vernon, whose band Bon Iver is up for finest various music album, mentioned he wore a whistle to honor the authorized observers who’re documenting federal brokers’ actions on the streets.
“I think there’s a reason that music exists and it’s to heal and to bring people together,” he informed The Related Press. “But the real work are those observers on the on the ground in Minneapolis. We just want to want to shout them out.”
On the Sundance Movie Competition final week, a number of celebrities wore pins saying “ICE OUT” throughout their crimson carpet appearances, together with Natalie Portman, Olivia Wilde and Zoey Deutch, who additionally wore a “BE GOOD” pin, referencing Renee Good, who was killed by an ICE officer final month.
Wilde informed the AP that she was “horrified by this string of murders that we are somehow legitimizing and normalizing.”
“It’s really difficult to be here and to be celebrating something so joyous and beautiful and positive when we know what’s happening on the streets,” she added. “Americans are out on the streets marching and demanding justice, and we’re there with them. And if we can do anything with our platforms, you know, we can speak out and demand that ICE get out.”
Portman received emotional when requested about her “ICE OUT” pin on the premiere of her new movie, “The Gallerist.”
“I’m so lucky to be here in a joyful, creative community celebrating a movie we’re really proud of. But it’s impossible to ignore what ICE is doing to our country. And I’m very inspired, though, by all of the amazing, amazing Americans who are coming out and supporting each other and being there in communities. It’s beautiful,” the actor mentioned as she teared up.
Causes celebrities could not communicate out
So far as the Grammys go, Rocketto, the neighborhood organizer who based the Latino advocacy group Maremoto, mentioned it’s “kind of a crapshoot” as to which entertainers really put on the pins.
She described a spread of trade forces working towards artists’ political expression. Objections may come from document corporations, managers or company companions.
“Maybe the design house that did their fashion deal for the red carpet didn’t want them to literally poke holes in the dress,” she mentioned. “There’s like a million reasons for people not to do it.”
Artists may also face private risks themselves. Morales Rocketto pointed to the Trump administration’s threats to put ICE brokers on the upcoming Tremendous Bowl halftime efficiency by Unhealthy Bunny, “one of the most invincible” entertainers in her view.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some Latino artists wearing them,” she mentioned of the pins. “But the reality is that just because Latino artists are rich and famous, doesn’t mean that they are exempt from the lack of safety that permeates so many Latinos and Latino families. They themselves may be undocumented or only have a green card or have mixed status families.”
AP Movie Author Lindsey Bahr and AP journalist Brooke Lefferts contributed reporting from Park Metropolis, Utah.
