Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary criticises Billie Eilish’s remarks against ICE; Mark Ruffalo defends her: ‘Shut the f*** up’ | Hollywood News
4 min readNew DelhiFeb 6, 2026 04:23 PM IST
Singer Billie Eilish had quite an eventful Grammy Awards this year round, as she attracted applause and criticism all at the same time. The singer spoke against the actions of the US Immigration Department (ICE), which gave rise to quite a reaction from the Hollywood community and more. Business tycoon Kevin O’Leary is one of those people who doesn’t agree with Billie’s comments or where she chose to reveal them. However, it seems that Billie isn’t alone in this debate.
Billie receives backlash from local tribes.
During a segment on Fox News, it was revealed that Billie’s house is actually on indigenous land. The Tongva tribe, also known as the First Angelenos, reached out to the Daily Mail about Billie’s acceptance speech, where she said, “No one is illegal on stolen land.” A spokesperson of the tribe addressed the speech and said, “Eilish has not contacted our tribe directly regarding her property. We do value the instance when public figures provide visibility to the true history of this country. It is our hope that in future discussions, the tribe can explicitly be referenced to ensure the public understands that the greater Los Angeles Basin remains Gabrieleno Tongva territory.”
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Kevin was invited to a discussion about this aforementioned fact, and when asked about the tribe’s statement and Billie, he said, “Well, I know that her agents are going out of their minds. I mean, it’s the first lesson, 101 celebrity. As you rise up, whether you’re a film star or a music star or whatever, shut your mouth and just entertain.”
He even posted a clip from the show on his Instagram and wrote in the caption, “I feel sorry for celebrities that wander into this kind of thing without doing at least a basic AI search. She got torched, but you know, do your homework first. There’s a kernel of an idea sparked by this massive narrative that occurred, just from a flippant statement at the Grammys. I’m very optimistic that from this, something good will happen. As far as Billie, I say this to entertainers, ‘Half the people in politics that you piss off won’t buy your music anymore. Don’t be stupid about it.’
Mark Ruffalo weighs in.
The Hulk actor has been incredibly vocal about his stance against the Donald Trump administration and the actions of ICE. He has been seen wearing the ‘ICE OUT’ pin while making any recent public appearances, such as at the Golden Globes or The Late Show. Ruffalo took to his Instagram Threads and responded to Kevin’s criticism by essentially telling him to shut up.
He wrote, “Why don’t you STFU? It’s hilarious. You will go on any show and talk shit about any number of things and smugly expect us to listen to you, but you will dig into a real artist that dwarfs anything you dream of doing for actually saying something that resonates with 100’s of millions of people the world over. It’s astounding the fantasy double standard Kevin O’Leary lives in. You played yourself well in Marty Supreme.”
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While this could be just looked at as more bad publicity for Marty Supreme and lead actor Timothée Chalamet’s Oscar run, the debate has several other players to consider.
Ricky Gervais’ old speech resurfaces.
In 2020, Ricky hosted the Golden Globes, and during his opening monologue, he told the artists to not use this stage as a platform to express their political opinions. After many artists made it a point to use the Grammy Awards to speak their mind, Ricky went on social media, posted an excerpt from his speech and wrote in the caption, “They are still not listening.”
Billie herself, or any of the other artists who called out ICE, are yet to respond to any of these developments.
