Billie Eilish has faced renewed criticism over her past “stolen land” comments after officiating her brother Finneas O’Connell’s wedding in California.
O’Connell, 29, married his girlfriend Claudia Sulewski over the weekend at San Ysidro Ranch in California, with Eilish conducting the ceremony.
Billie Eilish’s Grammy comments resurface
Criticism of the wedding location follows comments Eilish made earlier this year about immigration enforcement in the United States.
In February, Eilish won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year for Wildflower. During her acceptance speech, she criticised raids carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which have resulted in people being detained for lengthy periods or killed.
Wearing an “ICE out” badge, the 24-year-old said: “As grateful as I feel, I honestly don’t feel like I need to say anything but that no one is illegal on stolen land.”
The comments have now been brought back into the debate over Eilish officiating her brother’s wedding. Some social media users criticised her for holding the ceremony at San Ysidro Ranch, which is located in an area that was once part of Chumash land before European colonisation.
During her Grammy speech, Eilish also said: “It’s just really hard to know what to say and what to do right now, and I just feel really hopeful in this room, and I feel like we just need to keep fighting and speaking up and protesting, and our voices really do matter, and the people matter.”
She added: “And f**k ICE, that’s all I’m gonna say. Sorry!”
Why Eilish’s home was also discussed
At the time, Eilish faced accusations of virtue signalling. Reports also noted that her home is situated on land that once belonged to the Native American Tongva tribe.
A spokesperson for the Tongva expressed “appreciation” for Eilish’s speech in a statement: “As the First People of the greater Los Angeles basin, we do understand that her home is situated in our ancestral land.”
The statement continued: “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.”
A law firm subsequently made what appeared to be an unsolicited and satirical offer to help “evict” Eilish from her home, although there has been no indication that the Tongva intended to pursue such action.
O’Connell also defended his sister against the outrage of “powerful old white men”, describing those angry with Eilish as “the most cartoonishly evil men on Earth”. LADbible Group has contacted representatives of Billie Eilish for comment.
Source: www.ladbible.com
