Once again, the Grammys proved they are no longer primarily a celebration of music, creativity, or artistic excellence. They are an annual morality play — one in which celebrities lecture Americans about tolerance, compassion, and justice, while practicing none of it themselves.
Last night’s broadcast followed a script that has become painfully familiar over the years: applause for radical rhetoric, scorn for law enforcement, and a complete absence of self-reflection. Viewers were told who to hate, what to believe, and which institutions are acceptable targets for profanity, all under the banner of “love” and “inclusion.”
Tolerance, As Long As You Think the Same Thing
At the Grammys, tolerance does not mean pluralism, it means compliance.
Artists are no longer celebrated solely for their hard work, but for their willingness to echo the carefully contrived political slogans. Those who dissent or question otherwise, are treated as moral threats rather than fellow citizens. Diversity is endlessly praised, except when it comes to ideas. This is not inclusion, rather it’s ideological orthodoxy enforced by public applause.
Billie Eilish and the Luxury of Cost-Free Radicalism
After winning Song of the Year, Billie Eilish used her moment on stage to declare:
“No one is illegal on stolen land… we need to keep fighting and speaking up and protesting… our voices really do matter and the people matter and f* ICE**.”
The crowd erupted.
What the crowd did not hear was any acknowledgment of the contradiction embedded in her message. Eilish reportedly owns a $2.3 million equestrian ranch in Glendale, California—land that, for thousands of years prior to Spanish colonization, was inhabited by the Gabrielino-Tongva people.
If land ownership itself delegitimizes law and borders, that principle is being applied quite selectively. Celebrities are never asked to surrender their own property, wealth, or security in service of the slogans they demand others live by. This is the defining feature of elite activism: weaponize radical language against the American people with zero personal cost.
Bad Bunny, ICE, and the Erasure of the American Audience
After winning Best Música Urbana Album, Bad Bunny opened his remarks with:
“Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ICE out.”
The cheers were immediate.
Later in the night, the Recording Academy elevated him even further, awarding Album of the Year to “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” making him the first artist to win the Grammys’ top prize for a Spanish-language album.
Recognition of talent is not the issue, but the double standard is.
At the end of the night, Bad Bunny delivered his acceptance remarks almost entirely in Spanish on an American broadcast, despite this being a U.S.-based awards show aimed primarily at an American audience. This comes even as a separate Latin Grammy Awards, presented by the Latin Recording Academy, has existed since 2000 to celebrate Spanish-language music.
More revealing still: Bad Bunny’s most recent “world tour” skipped the United States entirely, reportedly out of fear that ICE might be present at his concerts. Yet American institutions continue to celebrate him, including selecting him to perform at the NFL Super Bowl halftime show this Sunday.
In other words:
America is too dangerous to tour
American law enforcement gets vilified on stage
American platforms (The Recording Academy’s Grammy Awards and the NFL’s Super Bowl) still provide the biggest stages imaginable
This is selective dependence on the very country being targeted and condemned.
Hypocrisy as a Feature, Not a Bug
The same celebrities who condemn “hate” are often the first to engage in it… so long as the target is politically acceptable.
Mocking religious beliefs? Applauded.
Demonizing half the country? Standing ovation.
Dehumanizing parents, conservatives, or skeptics? Get labeled “brave” and get awarded with a Grammy.
Meanwhile, calls for civility only emerge when the criticism runs the other direction.
And as you know by now, that’s not moral clarity… it’s selective outrage.
Throughout the Grammy Awards, attacks on ICE were not framed as policy disagreements and not one single celebrity other than Jelly Roll was willing to use their acceptance speech time to turn down the divisive temperature across our country or give all the glory to God.
ICE, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, exists to enforce federal law, including the removal of individuals who are in the country illegally and often after committing additional crimes. Deportation does not automatically preclude lawful reentry in the future, yet the agency is treated as inherently evil by celebrities who live far removed from communities that reel from the consequences of unchecked illegal immigration every day.
This alone is selective outrage dressed up as virtue.
SZA, Faith, and the Need for Facts
After winning Record of the Year alongside Kendrick Lamar for “Luther,” SZA gave a thoughtful, mostly unifying speech. One line, however, deserves slight correction:
“We are not governed by the government; we’re governed by God.”
As people of faith, many Americans understand the sentiment. But factually—and constitutionally—Americans are governed by civil authority. Faith informs conscience; it does not replace the rule of law.
Correcting the record is not an attack. It is accountability—something the Grammys demand of ordinary Americans but rarely apply to their own speakers.
Kehlani and the Applause Line
Kehlani won her first Grammy last night and largely followed the same script that played out repeatedly throughout the night:
“Together, we’re stronger in numbers to speak out against all the injustice going on in the world right now… I’m going to leave it at that and say, f* ICE**.”
No specifics. No nuance. No acknowledgment of complexity. Just profanity met with applause.
This is not courageous speech. It is chanting, which had been rewarded consistently over the course of the 3 hour Award Show program precisely because it requires no explanation and no responsibility.
Activism Without Consequences
Hollywood activism is always loud and always “safe.”
The Grammys platform radical rhetoric with zero cost to the speakers, while working-class Americans absorb the consequences of policies these same elites cheer from the stage. There’s no accountability, no self-reflection, and no willingness to debate ideas on their merits.
For the last decade, the Grammy Award’s have been nothing more than performance activism. High on applause, trashy repetitive tag lines, and low on overall substance.
“Immigrants Built This Country,” A Political Slogan Masquerading as History
Shaboozey dedicated his Grammy to immigrants, stating they “built this country, literally.”
That claim collapses American history into a slogan.
The United States was built by settlers, pioneers, and citizens who established institutions, fought wars, wrote a Constitution, and created a nation from frontier territory. Many were immigrants but they became Americans under law. Conflating lawful immigration with illegal entry is not tolerance… that’s rhetorical sleight of hand.
Definitions matter. Facts matter. American history matters.
Who Gets a Voice and Who Doesn’t
The most revealing part of the night wasn’t what was said… it was what was noticeably missing.
There was no room for artists who hold unfashionable views. No acknowledgment that millions of Americans see the world differently. No curiosity, no humility, no openness to the possibility that reasonable people can respectfully disagree.
In the Grammys’ worldview, disagreement isn’t diversity, it’s heresy.
Why This Matters
Cultural institutions shape norms. When one of America’s most prominent award shows treat intolerance as virtue, and disagreement as danger, the ripple effects reach far beyond entertainment. They teach young people that acceptance is conditional. That speech is free only if it aligns with approved ideology. That power — not principle — determines what counts as “kindness.”
This is their way have promoting new tolerance: enforced conformity wrapped in the language of compassion.
The Loudest Lectures Come From the Safest Places
Perhaps the most striking hypocrisy of the night was not what was said, but by whose mouth it came from. Almost all of these celebrities leading the charge against immigration enforcement overwhelmingly live in:
Gated communities
Predominantly white neighborhoods
Mansions with walls, alarms, and 24/7 private security
- A world where they didn’t fully complete their K-12 or even higher education, nor have they extensively studied American history
From behind those luxurious barriers, they lecture diverse, working-class Americans, many of whom live in communities directly affected by crime, strained public services, and unchecked illegal immigration, that disagreement makes them immoral or bigoted.
What the Grammys Really Revealed
Last night confirmed what millions of Americans already understand intuitively:
“Tolerance” means agreement
“Diversity” excludes viewpoint
“Compassion” is conditional
And enforcement of the law is acceptable when politically convenient
This is their new tolerance: enforced conformity wrapped in the language of kindness, where applause replaces argument and dissent is treated as danger. At the New Tolerance Campaign, we will continue to document these moments, not because artists should be silenced or reprimanded by their hard-work, but because power must be accountable, especially when it cloaks itself in moral authority.
True tolerance does not demand obedience.
It does not require silence.
And it does not fear disagreement.
It welcomes it.
