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Ariana Grande Criticized for Promoting Nationwide Shutdown ICE Protest: ‘You Can’t Make This Stuff Up’
Ariana Grande is being criticized on social media for encouraging her 372 million Instagram followers to participate in the Friday, January 30, “Nationwide Shutdown” designed to protest the activities of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
The Wicked star, 32, took to her Instagram Story to share a flyer created by someone else promoting calls for a general, nationwide strike on Friday.
According to Business Insider, activists are calling for people to not go to work or school, and to refrain from shopping for an entire day.
The hope is to black out the U.S. economy in a meaningful way as a protest of ICE’s activities in the United States following the shooting deaths of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti.
While many took to social media to praise Grande for using her platform to promote the cause, others were quick to criticize the wealthy star for encouraging her working-class followers to miss school and work.
“Get a grip Arina [sic],” one user on X wrote. “You gonna pay my bills You gonna do my homework.”
“Imagine millionaires telling YOU to skip work,” another wrote. “You can’t make this stuff up.”
Someone else noted, “Celebrities encouraging students to not go to school…. lol…. Great role model right there.”
“Nobody finds it insane that a rich celebrity is telling normal people who have bills to pay to not go to work????” another user added.
Meanwhile, Amber Rose also chimed in during a discussion on Kick with Sneako. “I think she’s worth $250–300 million, telling people not to go to work, protest ICE,” she shared. “Are you going to give your money to these people so they can stay home from work? Like, stop telling people to do that.”
While Grande is getting the brunt of some criticism on social media, she is far from the only celebrity encouraging their followers to take part in the shutdown. Throughout the week, stars like Pedro Pascal, Hannah Einbinder and Macklemore have all shared a similar flyer to their fans and expressed support for the protest.
