White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has responded to remarks that the singer Bad Bunny made during the Grammy Awards, in which he criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“I think it’s very ironic and frankly sad to see celebrities who live in gated communities with private security, with millions of dollars to spend protecting themselves, trying to just demonize law enforcement,” Leavitt told reporters.
Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, used his Grammy Award acceptance speech on Sunday night to deliver a statement critical of ICE. Accepting the award for Best Música Urbana Album for Debi Tirar Mas Fotos, he said, “Before I say thanks to God, I’m gonna say ICE out. We’re not savage. We’re not animals. We’re not aliens. We are humans, and we are Americans.”
Why It Matters
ICE has come under growing scrutiny amid allegations of misconduct and excessive use of force during federal immigration enforcement operations. In January, federal immigration agents killed two American citizens in Minneapolis, sparking protests nationwide and even beyond U.S. borders.
What To Know
There has been a flurry of protests in the entertainment industry against ICE operations.
At the 2026 Grammy Awards, a number of musical artists used their platform to express opposition to ICE. Several performers and attendees—including Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, Kehlani and Joni Mitchell—wore “ICE Out” pins on the red carpet as a symbolic protest against the agency’s operations.
Billie Eilish spoke about immigrant rights while accepting Song of the Year. Bad Bunny, who won awards that included Best Música Urbana Album and Album of the Year, began his speech with the words “ICE out.”
The NFL selected Bad Bunny, a Puerto Rican-born musician, to headline this year’s Super Bowl halftime show. The announcement received mixed reactions. The singer has also faced criticism from some conservative circles, particularly MAGA supporters, while others have praised him for using his platform to shed light on human rights.
Last month, two separate fatal shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis sparked national outrage and ramped up criticism of ICE and Border Patrol and their use-of-force policies. On January 7, an ICE agent shot and killed 37‑year‑old Renée Good during an enforcement operation.
Less than three weeks later, on January 24, U.S. Border Patrol agents assisting an ICE operation shot and killed 37‑year‑old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti during a confrontation on a Minneapolis street. Both incidents were captured on video and appear to contradict the government’s version of events.
What People Are Saying
Billie Eilish said at the Grammys on Sunday: “No one is illegal on stolen land. 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.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters: “You didn’t hear this same type of uproar from celebrities in Hollywood when the previous administration allowed an invasion of our nation’s borders and allowed innocent women and girls like Jocelyn Nungaray and Laken Riley to be killed and raped and murdered at the hands of people who should have never been in our country in the first place.
“Now you have law enforcement who are simply trying to do their jobs to remove violent predators like those who took the lives of innocent Americans. There was no uproar from Hollywood and the elitist crowd at the Grammys then, but there is now, and I think that speaks to the unfortunate irony that we’re seeing in Hollywood.”
President Donald Trump, commenting on the NFL selecting Bad Bunny to headline the Super Bowl halftime show, said in January: “I think it’s a terrible choice. All it does is sow hatred. Terrible.”
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said at a news conference on Monday: “Bad Bunny is one of the greatest artists in the world and that’s one of the reasons we chose him, but the other reason is he understood the platform he was on. This platform is used to unite people and to be able to bring people together with their creativity, with their talent, and to be able to use this moment to do that. I think artists in the past have done that. I think Bad Bunny understands that, and I think he’ll have a great performance.”
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