Billie Eilish Calls Out Billionaires To Their Faces And Announces $11.5M Donation
In a room that included Mark Zuckerberg, Eilish called for empathy and less hoarding of wealth, while donating millions herself.
Featured image by Noam Galai/Getty Images
Billie Eilish accepted her Music Innovator of the Year award from WSJ Magazine on Wednesday night with a pointed question for the billionaires in the room: Why keep it all?
“We’re in a time right now where the world is really, really bad and really dark, and people need empathy and help more than, kind of, ever, especially in our country,” the 23-year-old artist said onstage at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. “I’d say if you have money, it would be great to use it for good things, maybe give it to some people that need it.”
Then came the line that broke through the polite applause. “Love you all, but there’s a few people in here that have a lot more money than me. If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties.”
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The room included some of the most powerful people in entertainment and tech, among them Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who was there to support his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, another honoree that evening. According to People, Zuckerberg didn’t clap.
Eilish’s comments would have landed hard on their own, but she arrived with receipts. Stephen Colbert, who presented her award, revealed that she is donating $11.5 million from the Hit Me Hard and Soft world tour proceeds to The Changemaker Program, which supports organizations working on food insecurity, climate justice, and environmental sustainability.
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Eilish has long tied her public platform to climate and social causes. In a 2024 interview with Rolling Stone, she said, “I have never had an interest in being a role model, ever. If you’re going to think I’m a role model, think I’m a role model in terms of trying to save the environment, and being more conscious of the way that you live, and your carbon footprint, and your contribution to animal agriculture.”
Her latest donation goes well beyond awareness. And if that makes a few billionaires squirm in their seats, all the better.
The WSJ Innovator Awards are designed to celebrate boundary-pushers across industries. This year’s honorees included Spike Lee, Ben Stiller, Hailey Bieber, Hermès’s Nadège Vanhée, and philanthropists George Lucas and Mellody Hobson.
