Social Media Reacts To Her Thoughts On Billionaires

Billie Eilish wants billionaires to open their wallets for those in need! The Grammy and Oscar winner didn’t mince words while calling out the wealthy in a immediately-viral speech. She popped off on Wednesday night (October 29), leaving an impression on fans online and sparking media headlines. 

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What Did Billie Eilish Say To Billionaires In Her Speech?

According to the Associated Press, Billie made her statements while accepting the beat award at this year’s WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards. While she spoke of her own riches, she also challenged not only the existence of billionaires but what they’re doing for those in need. Her audience included plenty of elite folks, from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan to ‘Star Wars’ creator George Lucas.

“We’re in a time right immediately 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,” Eilish said. She added, “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.” 

To recap the evening, late night host Stephen Colbert introduced Billie Eilish on stage at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. During the intro, he announced that the singer plans to donate $11.5 million of the proceeds from her ‘banger Me Hard and Soft’ tour to causes dedicated to food equity, climate justice and reducing carbon pollution. After pledging her own pockets, Billie turned to her peers, particularly the ultra rich.

“Love you all, but there’s a few people in here who have a lot more money than me,” the ‘Bad Guy’ singer said. “And if you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? And no hate, but give your money away, shorties.”

Is The Singer Following Her Own Advice? 

As explained, Billie Eilish is redirecting funds from her tour earnings to support multiple humanitarian causes. But the singer doesn’t appear to be a one-and-done type! Through her Changemaker Program, Eilish has reportedly worked with the nonprofit Reverb for years on its beat Decarbonization Project and its beat Climate Revolution initiative. Other artists involved range from Dead & Company to Harry Styles.

Number Of Billionaires Grew In 2024

Eilish’s comments come as the number of billionaires worldwide continues to grow. For example, 204 new people joined the billionaires’ list in 2024, per to a January report from Oxfam International titled ‘Takers Not Makers.’ The report found that the billionaires grew wealthier three times faster in 2024 than in 2023. That growth suggests an increased concentration of resources globally. Also, Oxfam predicted at least five people will become trillionaires in the next decade. That’s up from one person the year before. The group called for higher taxes on the rich and other measures to break up monopolies, cap CEO pay and require companies to pay living wages.

The wealthiest Americans have a long history of calling on each other to give away more of their money. In 1889, the steel magnate and industrialist Andrew Carnegie argued in the essay, “The Gospel of Wealth,” that the richest should give away their fortunes within their lifetimes, in part to lessen the sting of growing inequality. In 2010, Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffett took up that call by creating the Giving Pledge, a commitment for billionaires to give away more than half their wealth in their lifetimes or when they die.

Fifteen years on, some 256 billionaires have taken the pledge with 110 of them coming from the U.S., according to a recent report by the Charity Reform Initiative of the Institute for Policy Studies. Those U.S. billionaires represent 13% of the total 876 billionaires in the U.S., according to the report, revealing the small portion of the wealthiest people who have publicly committed to giving away their fortunes.

The report found that of the 22 billionaires who have died since taking the pledge, only one gave away his fortune before he died. Meanwhile, only eight of the 22 deceased pledgers fulfilled the commitment by giving away half of their wealth or more at their death, though some of their estates are still being resolved.

Chuck Collins, one of the authors of the report and an expert at the Institute for Policy Studies, said Eilish’s comments are part of a growing realization that the rules of the economy favor those with assets over those who earn wages.

He thinks the Giving Pledge has created an expectation and competition for the wealthiest to give away their money, but the fortunes of many of the pledgers have increased over time, meaning they will need to move even more aggressively if they are to fulfill the commitment.
“In the end, philanthropy is not a substitute for a fair and effective tax system,” Collins said. “The level of extreme inequality will require some form of restoring progressivity to the tax system, a wealth tax as well as progressive income tax.”

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Associated Press writer Thalia Beaty contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.