White Lotus star Natasha Rothwell went off script while accepting an award Sunday with sharp words for President Trump’s ICE operations.
“I’m gonna go to the prompter, but I just want to say f--- ICE,” Rothwell said on stage as she presented the award for Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series at the Independent Spirit Awards.
Anti-ICE sentiment was in the air at the show, much like at this year’s Golden Globes and Grammy Awards. Several actors, including Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, Tessa Thompson, and Lake Bell, wore “ICE OUT” pins at the Indie Spirits, according to Vulture.
The killings of several people by federal agents in Minnesota have complicated awards season for nominees. Sinners acress Wunmi Mosaku, who scored her first Oscar nomination this year, explained how the goings-on have impacted her awards season experience personally when she told The Times U.K., “I’ve not been able to celebrate because of what’s going on right now, with the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minnesota,” as well as the “kidnapping” of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos. The Minnesota kindergartener was held in ICE detention for 11 days along with father, despite the family legally seeking asylum in the U.S.
Added Mosaku, “It’s difficult to hold both the nomination and the news because one feels beautiful and one is so dark and heavy; truly dystopian—how can I possibly go out and buy some drinks and enjoy the moment?”
Others shared similar thoughts at the Indie Spirit Awards, like Train Dreams director Clint Bentley, who accepted the award for Best Director on Sunday. “In a world where there are so many people trying to put up walls and put people in cages and divide people, we’re making little communities, and we’re putting goodness into the world,” Bentley said. “And when there are a lot of people trying to do the opposite, I think that’s worth doing. Who knows where it’ll lead us, but I think it’s worth trying to make the world a little bit better every little step we can.”
The Pitt star Taylor Dearden told Variety from the red carpet that ICE’s immigration raids feel “like it’s such an assault on everyone, at all times,” as she explained why she was wearing an “ICE OUT” pin. “There is no L.A. without immigrants.”
