Billie Eilish had a message for the ultra-rich — and she delivered it straight to their faces. The 23-year-old Grammy-winning pop star used her acceptance speech at the Wall Street Journal Innovator Awards in New York on Wednesday night to call out billionaires, urging them to share their wealth. Eilish received the Music Innovator Award and made the remarks in a room filled with some of the world’s wealthiest and most influential figures — including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “Love you all, but there’s a few people in here that have a lot more money than me,” Eilish said to the crowd. “If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but give your money away, shorties.” Zuckerberg attended the event with his wife, Priscilla Chan. He is estimated to be worth around $227.9 billion. Eilish continued her speech, shedding some light on empathy and social responsibility. “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,” she said. “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.” Her comments came shortly after she announced a major charitable move of her own, according to USA Today. Before she took the stage, presenter Stephen Colbert revealed that Eilish would be donating $11.5 million from her Hit Me Hard and Soft world tour earnings to organisations focused on food equity, climate justice, and reducing carbon pollution. In a recent interview with WSJ Magazine, Eilish also discussed her efforts to make her tour more sustainable, using biodegradable confetti, recycled materials, and plant-based catering. “You can literally make all the same stuff with sustainable materials, and people just aren’t doing it,” she said. “Everyone can actually do it. It’s just that mostly they don’t.”
