Leading by example, Billie Eilish made a significant donation from her latest tour to charitable causes, and urged the world’s wealthiest to use their money for the power of good.
On Wednesday (10.29,) while accepting the Music Innovator Award at the Wall Street Journal Magazine Innovator Awards, the now 23-year-old superstar singer/songwriter took to the stage and used her acceptance speech to encourage the star-studded audience to do more with their wealth.
“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.” . “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.” “Love you all, but there’s a few people in here that have a lot more money than me,” she said. “If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties.” said the multi-Grammy award winner.
Billie’s comments drew applause and laughter from the lion’s share of the audience – including tech billionaire Mark Zuckerberg and stars such as Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Hailey Bieber, George Lucas, Spike Lee, Karlie Kloss and Questlove – though it was reported that Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta and co-founder of Facebook, did not clap at the end of her speech.
As part of her introduction, talk show host Stephen Colbert confirmed that Eilish would be donating $11,500,000.00 from her recent Hit Me Hard and Soft world tour, saying:
“I also have the privilege of breaking a little news tonight. Thank you, Billie, for allowing me to do this. It’s extraordinary.” “Billie Eilish will be donating proceeds from her Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour to support organisztions, projects and voices dedicated to food equity, climate justice, reducing carbon pollution and combating the climate crisis,” he continued. “That donation, ladies and gentlemen, will be $11.5 million.” “That’s wonderful. Billie, on behalf of humans everywhere, thank you.”
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Justin Higuchi from Los Angeles, CA, USA