How anti-ICE pin badges became the essential red carpet accessory

Billie Eilish and Biebers wore ‘ICE out’ pins at the Grammys, as more and more celebrities find their political voices

The red carpet is being used increasingly as a platform for protest – and one accessory in particular has become key: the pin badge.

At Sunday night’s Grammy awards, stars including Hailey and Justin Bieber and Billie Eilish wore black and white pins that read “ICE out”, a condemnation of the recent actions of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

It follows the wearing of “Be Good” pins by celebrities such as Mark Ruffalo and Natasha Lyonne at last month’s Golden Globes, a tribute to Renee Good, a 37-year-old unarmed US citizen who was shot dead by an ICE agent on 7 January, and Keith Porter Jr, a Los Angeles citizen killed by an off-duty ICE officer on New Year’s Eve.

The pins are part of a campaign backed by organisations such as the American Civil Liberties Union. In an interview, Nelini Stamp, one of the organisers, said: “We need every part of civil society to speak up. We need our artists. We need our entertainers. We need the folks who reflect society.”