Celebrities at the 2026 Golden Globe Awards didn’t just show up to pose for photos and celebrate film and TV. Many of them arrived at the Beverly Hilton wearing stark black-and-white pins that carried a blunt political message: “BE GOOD” and “ICE OUT.”
The pins were a visible show of solidarity after the fatal ICE shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Keith Porter, and they turned what’s usually a glamorous night into a pointed protest against the government’s immigration enforcement and the broader political climate in the United States.
Pins for Renee Nicole Good and Keith Porter
The small pins carried big meaning.
On Jan. 7, Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed in Minneapolis by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer Jonathan Ross, according to reports. Just days earlier, on New Year’s Eve, Keith Porter, a Los Angeles resident, was shot and killed by an off-duty ICE agent.
For many stars on the Golden Globes carpet, those two deaths were impossible to ignore.
“This is for Renee Nicole Good, who was murdered,” Mark Ruffalo said on the red carpet, explaining why he chose to wear the pin. He made clear he wasn’t treating the moment as just another awards show appearance, but as a chance to speak directly to viewers about what he sees as an escalating crisis.
Ruffalo blasts Trump and the current state of America
Ruffalo didn’t hold back when he shifted from Good’s killing to the man he believes bears ultimate responsibility for the political climate: President Donald Trump.
He accused Trump of dragging the U.S. into what he described as an illegal war with Venezuela, and of openly dismissing international law.
“He’s telling the world that international law doesn’t matter to him,” Ruffalo said. “The only thing that matters to him is his own morality.”
Ruffalo then launched into a blistering personal attack, describing Trump in extremely harsh terms and referencing his criminal cases and longstanding allegations against him. Ruffalo’s point was less about rehashing legal details and more about the danger, as he sees it, of the world’s most powerful country being guided by what he called the “morality” of a man he views as fundamentally unfit for office.
“If we’re relying on this guy’s morality for the most powerful country in the world, then we’re all in a lot of trouble,” he said.
For Ruffalo, the pins and his comments were ultimately about fear for ordinary people, not just anger at one leader.
“This is for her,” he said of Good. “This is for the people in the United States who are terrorized and scared today. I know I’m one of them. I love this country. And what I’m seeing here happening is not America.”
Wanda Sykes: ‘We need to shut this rogue government down’
Comedian and actor Wanda Sykes also used her time before the ceremony to speak out, making it clear she sees the issue as much bigger than a single incident.
“We need to speak up and shut this rogue government down,” she told Variety in a pre-show interview. “It’s awful what they are doing to people.”
Her language echoed the broader frustration that has been building as more details emerge about the incidents involving ICE officers and the broader pattern of enforcement actions.
ACLU’s ‘ICE Out For Good’ weekend of action
The Golden Globes red-carpet display didn’t happen in a vacuum. It followed nationwide protests organised under the banner of the “ICE Out For Good” movement, led by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
According to the ACLU, about 1,000 events were held across the country as part of an “ICE Out For Good Weekend of Action.” These included marches, vigils and community gatherings intended to:
- Honour those killed by ICE officers
- Demand accountability and systemic reform
- Highlight what organisers describe as the “human cost” of the current administration’s policies
“Today, peaceful protests and vigils kicked off the ICE Out For Good Weekend of Action to honor the lives lost at the hands of ICE, demand accountability, and make visible the human cost of this administration’s actions,” the ACLU wrote in a statement.
The pins seen at the Golden Globes came directly out of that movement. Organisers say their message is simple: “Be good to one another in the face of such horror – be a good citizen, neighbour, friend, ally and human.”
Other stars reflect on a ‘brutal’ and ‘concerning’ moment
Not every celebrity on the carpet mentioned ICE by name, but the sense that something is deeply wrong in the country ran through many of the interviews.
- Amy Poehler alluded to the “brutal” state of the world in her red-carpet comments, hinting at how strange it feels to be celebrating entertainment while people are grieving and protesting in the streets.
- Natasha Lyonne, star of Poker Face, said she was “grateful” for free speech, calling it “a wild time” in America during her chat with E!, as if to acknowledge how fraught even basic political expression has become.
- Jean Smart, from HBO’s Hacks, spoke most directly about the emotional whiplash of awards season amid turmoil.
“Everything is kind of overshadowed with everything going on in this country,” she said, describing the atmosphere as “very concerning.”She acknowledged that some viewers dislike it when actors speak out on “political and social things,” but insisted she wasn’t just speaking as a celebrity looking for attention.
“I’m here speaking as a human being and a mom,” she added.
A night of awards—and a reminder of what’s happening outside the ballroom
Award shows often get written off as out-of-touch celebrations, and some people bristle at celebrities delivering political messages from the red carpet. But on this particular night, the contrast between the glittering ceremony and the grim stories behind those small black-and-white pins was hard to miss.
For Ruffalo, Sykes and many others, the Golden Globes offered a rare opportunity: a live, global audience and a chance to say, in their own way, that what’s happening with ICE and the broader direction of the country can’t just be accepted as normal.
Whether viewers at home agreed with the message or not, the sight of Hollywood’s elite walking the carpet with “BE GOOD” and “ICE OUT” pinned to their designer outfits sent a clear signal: for many of them, this moment in American politics is too dangerous—and too personal—to stay silent.
