As protests and violence continue to spread across numerous American cities in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, Billie Eilish wrote an impassioned statement on Instagram to condemn white people who aren’t willing to engage with the Black Lives Matter movement. Or rather, people who don’t want to escape their White Lives Matter mindset. “I’ve been trying to take this week to figure out a way to address this delicately. I have an enormous platform and I try really hard to be respectful and take time to think through what I say and how I say it, but holy fucking shit I’m just gonna start talking,†Eilish wrote in all-caps. “If I hear one more white person say ‘All Lives Matter’ one more fucking time I’m gonna lose my fucking mind. Will you shut the fuck up? No one is saying your life doesn’t matter. No one is saying your life is not hard. No one is saying literally anything at all about you. All you [motherfuckers] do is find a way to make everything about yourself. This is not about you. Stop making everything about you. You are not in need. You are not in danger.â€
Eilish’s statement continued on for several more pages, which included dumbed-down examples of Black Lives Matter in case her “child†followers still couldn’t grasp the activism. “Society gives you privilege just for being white,†she wrote. “You can be poor, you can be struggling, and still your skin color is giving you more privilege than you even realize. Nobody is saying that makes you better than anyone. It just lets you live your life without having to worry about surviving simply because of your skin color! You are privileged!†Eilish concluded with the following: “The slogan of ‘Black Lives Matter’ does not mean other lives don’t. It’s calling attention to the fact that society clearly thinks black lives don’t fucking matter! And they fucking do!â€
In addition to Eilish, many prominent musicians have spoken publicly (and loudly) in the aftermath of George Floyd’s killing. While Beyoncé has called for all four Minneapolis police officers to be charged with Floyd’s “murder in broad daylight,†Taylor Swift has mobilized her fans to vow to vote Donald Trump out of the Oval Office. “We will vote you out in November,†she wrote.