Jake Paul has some thoughts on respecting the police. The internet has some thoughts on that.
On Saturday night, the 29-year-old boxer and influencer posted on X that anyone who criticizes ICE shouldn’t be allowed to call 911. “If you don’t like ICE then you can’t call 911 when you’re in trouble,” Paul wrote. “If you don’t respect law enforcement agents then you shouldn’t depend on them.”
Then he turned his attention directly to Billie Eilish — or, as he called her, “Billie Eyelash.”
“When Billie Eyelash gets her home broken into it’s not gonna be f-ck ICE I can promise you that,” he wrote.
The post pulled 6.2K comments, 4.2K reposts, 43K likes, and 2.8 million views in a matter of hours. Readers were quick to point out that Paul’s own history with law enforcement is… complicated.
That Same Day, at the Olympics With JD Vance
Hours after posting about respecting law enforcement, Paul was photographed sitting next to Vice President JD Vance at the Winter Olympics in Milan, watching the U.S. women’s hockey team beat Finland 5-0. Paul’s fiancée, Dutch speedskater Jutta Leerdam, is competing at the Milan Cortina Games.
As Vance left the arena, the crowd booed him — the second time in two days, after a much louder round of boos at the Opening Ceremony on Friday night.
Paul also went after Team USA skiers Hunter Hess and Chris Lillis on Saturday after they expressed mixed feelings about representing the U.S. amid the ICE controversy. “Wow pls shut the f*** up,” Paul wrote. “From all true Americans. If you don’t want to represent this country, go live somewhere else.”
Paul has been a visible Trump supporter. He sat with President Trump at the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in Miami last month and regularly posts in support of the administration.
What Billie Eilish Actually Said
Paul’s post was a response to Eilish’s acceptance speech at the 2026 Grammy Awards on February 1. While accepting Song of the Year for “Wildflower,” the 24-year-old singer told the audience, “No one is illegal on stolen land,” and ended her speech with two words: “F-ck ICE.” She and her brother Finneas both wore “ICE Out” pins on the red carpet.
They weren’t alone. Bad Bunny said “ICE out” while accepting Best Música Urbana Album, earning a standing ovation. Kehlani ended her own acceptance speech with the same phrase. SZA called the current moment “incredibly dystopian.”
Eilish has been outspoken about immigration enforcement since January, when she criticized the Trump administration while accepting the Martin Luther King Jr. Environmental Justice Award in Atlanta. “We’re seeing our neighbors being kidnapped, peaceful protesters being assaulted and murdered,” she said at the time.
Her brother Finneas responded to the backlash on Threads: “Seeing a lot of very powerful old white men outraged about what my 24 year old sister said during her acceptance speech. We can literally see your names in the Epstein files.”
The ICE Controversy That Started It All
The broader context here is the national firestorm over ICE operations in Minneapolis. In January, enforcement officer Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Good, a civilian, during an operation. Weeks later, a different officer fatally shot Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, in a separate Minnesota incident. In both cases, the Trump administration said the officers acted in self-defense. Eyewitness video told a different story for many Americans.
The shootings sparked protests nationwide and led Minnesota’s attorney general, along with the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, to sue to halt ICE operations in the state. The Grammy speeches didn’t happen in a vacuum — they happened in the middle of one of the most divisive law enforcement debates in recent memory.
Abolish ICE Protest Sign in Minneapolis” by Chad Davis, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 4.0
Commenters Were Quick to Bring Up Paul’s Own Record
Readers in the comments didn’t let the post go unchallenged. Many pointed to May 2020, when Paul attended a protest against police brutality in Scottsdale, Arizona — the kind of protest that is, by definition, a criticism of law enforcement. He didn’t leave when police declared an unlawful assembly and ordered the crowd to disperse. Instead, he entered a mall that was being looted, was filmed walking through it while people smashed into stores, and was captured on video receiving a bottle of vodka someone had taken from a P.F. Chang’s. He was charged with criminal trespass and unlawful assembly. The charges were later dismissed, and federal authorities declined to pursue the case.
At the time, Paul asked for exactly the kind of grace he’s now denying Billie Eilish: “I do not condone violence, looting or breaking the law. However, I understand the anger and frustration that led to the destruction we witnessed.”
In 2020, Paul showed up to a protest against law enforcement, defied a police order, got charged for it, and asked the public to understand. In 2026, he says a singer who criticized ICE from a Grammy stage doesn’t deserve to call 911.