Billie Eilish Urges Billionaires to “Give Your Money Away” During Wall Street Journal Awards Speech

At an event filled with some of the world’s most powerful and wealthy figures, Billie Eilish used her platform to call for empathy and redistribution. Accepting the Wall Street Journal Magazine Music Innovator of the Year award on Wednesday, Oct. 29, the 23-year-old singer-songwriter urged billionaires to use their wealth to support people in need.

“Love you all, but there’s a few people in here who have a lot more money than me,” Eilish told the audience, which included Mark Zuckerberg, Spike Lee, and Questlove. “If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, give your money away.”

Her remarks came moments after host Stephen Colbert revealed that Eilish will donate $11.5 million from her ongoing Hit Me Hard and Soft world tour to charitable causes. The funds, Colbert said, will support organizations focused on food equity, climate justice, reducing carbon emissions, and other environmental initiatives.

Eilish’s speech cut through the glitz of the Manhattan ballroom with a grounded message about compassion and responsibility: “we’re in a time right now when the world is really, really bad and really dark,” she said. “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 and maybe give it to some people that need it.”

The audience’s reaction was polite but subdued, a light round of applause followed her comments, though the contrast between her words and the setting was not lost on observers. Eilish’s statement, delivered in a room filled with billionaires, reflected her growing willingness to speak bluntly about the moral responsibilities that accompany wealth.

Eilish’s call to action aligns with her long-standing advocacy on environmental and social issues. Since emerging as one of pop music’s defining voices of the late 2010s, she has used her platform to champion sustainability, mental health awareness, and youth activism.

In 2022, she joined artists like Coldplay and Shawn Mendes in signing a Global Citizen open letter urging world leaders and billionaires to take stronger action on climate change and poverty reduction. The letter called on the world’s wealthiest individuals to “break systemic barriers that keep people in poverty.”

Eilish has also been a vocal advocate for environmentally responsible touring. The Hit Me Hard and Soft tour, currently in its final three weeks, has been designed with sustainability in mind, emphasizing renewable energy use, reduced plastic waste, and carbon offset programs.

Her third studio album, also titled Hit Me Hard and Soft, has been a commercial and critical success, earning double-platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America with over two million copies sold. The tour’s global leg has sold out 106 shows, further cementing Eilish’s status as one of the most influential artists of her generation.

Despite her activism, Eilish has been candid about her complicated feelings toward being viewed as a moral example. In an interview with Rolling Stone last year, she said she never sought the title of “role model.”

“I have never had an interest in being a role model, ever,” she told the magazine. “If you’re going to think I’m a role model, think I’m a role model in terms of trying to save the environment, and being more conscious of the way that you live, your carbon footprint, your contribution to animal agriculture”.

Eilish’s donation and speech come amid renewed public debate over the role of extreme wealth in addressing global crises. Her pointed question - “Why are you a billionaire?”, resonated as both a challenge and a reminder: that cultural influence, like financial power, comes with responsibility. “If you have money,” she said, “use it for good things.”