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Billie Eilish calls on billionaires to donate more of their wealth: “No hate, but give your money away, shorties”

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Billie Eilish calls on billionaires to donate more of their wealth: “No hate, but give your money away, shorties”


Billie Eilish wants billionaires to donate more.

As the Grammy and Oscar winner accepted the music award at this year’s WSJ. Magazine Innovator Awards on Wednesday night, she urged the ultra-wealthy to address more of the world’s issues.

“We’re in a time right now where the world is really, really bad and really dark and people need empathy and help more than, kind of, ever, especially in our country,” Eilish said to an audience that included Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, as well as “Star Wars” creator George Lucas. “I’d say if you have money, it would be great to use it for good things, maybe give it to some people that need it.”

Late-night host Stephen Colbert introduced Eilish onstage at New York’s Museum of Modern Art by announcing that she would donate $11.5 million of the proceeds from her Hit Me Hard and Soft tour to causes dedicated to food equity, climate justice and reducing carbon pollution.

Billie Eilish attends the WSJ. Magazine 2025 Innovator Awards at MoMA on Oct. 29, 2025, in New York City.

Taylor Hill / Getty Images


In accepting the award, the “Bad Guy” singer added a polite but direct call to others in the room, saying a lot of people, especially in the U.S., could use some help right now.

“Love you all, but there’s a few people in here who have a lot more money than me,” she said, to a smattering of applause. “And if you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? And no hate, but give your money away, shorties.”

Through her Changemaker Program, Eilish has worked with the nonprofit Reverb for years on its Music Decarbonization Project and its Music Climate Revolution initiative, alongside artists ranging from Dead & Company to Harry Styles.

Chan was also honored at the event, receiving the “Philanthropy of Science Innovator of the Year” award. A spokesperson for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Brandi Hoffine Barr, said Zuckerberg and Chan have committed to giving away 99% of their Meta shares to philanthropy over the course of their lifetimes and have already granted out $7 billion. According to Forbes, Zuckerberg’s current net worth is around $224 billion.

Eilish’s comments come as the number of billionaires worldwide continues to grow, with 204 new billionaires added in 2024, according to a January report from Oxfam International titled “Takers Not Makers.”

The report found that the billionaires grew wealthier three times faster in 2024 than in 2023, pointing to an increased concentration of resources globally.

Oxfam predicted that at least five people will become trillionaires in the next decade, up from one person the year before. The group called for higher taxes on the rich and other measures to break up monopolies, cap CEO pay and require companies to pay living wages.

The wealthiest Americans have a long history of calling on each other to give away more of their money. In 1889, the steel magnate and industrialist Andrew Carnegie argued in the essay “The Gospel of Wealth” that the richest should give away their fortunes within their lifetimes, in part to lessen the sting of growing inequality.

In 2010, Bill GatesMelinda French Gates and Warren Buffett took up that call by creating the Giving Pledge, a commitment for billionaires to give away more than half their wealth in their lifetimes or when they die.

Fifteen years on, some 256 billionaires have taken the pledge, with 110 of them coming from the U.S., according to a recent report by the Charity Reform Initiative of the Institute for Policy Studies. Those U.S. billionaires represent 13% of the total 876 billionaires in the U.S., according to the report, revealing the small portion of the wealthiest people who have publicly committed to giving away their fortunes.

The report found that of the 22 billionaires who have died since taking the pledge, only one gave away his fortune before he died. Meanwhile, only eight of the 22 deceased pledgers fulfilled the commitment by giving away half of their wealth or more at their death, though some of their estates are still being resolved.

Chuck Collins, one of the authors of the report and an expert at the Institute for Policy Studies, said Eilish’s comments are part of a growing realization that the rules of the economy favor those with assets over those who earn wages.

He thinks the Giving Pledge has created an expectation and competition for the wealthiest to give away their money, but the fortunes of many of the pledgers have increased over time, meaning they will need to move even more aggressively if they are to fulfill the commitment.

“In the end, philanthropy is not a substitute for a fair and effective tax system,” Collins said. “The level of extreme inequality will require some form of restoring progressivity to the tax system, a wealth tax as well as progressive income tax.”



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Psychic predicts Prince William 2026 personal win in King’s new plans

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Psychic predicts Prince William 2026 personal win in King’s new plans


Psychic predicts Prince William 2026 personal win in King’s new plans

Prince William is anticipated to hold the fort for his father King Charles in 2026 as the monarch plans to attend to matters of international diplomacy.

The Prince of Wales, who has reportedly been prepared to take on his destined role “on a moment’s notice” by the Palace, was seen establishing his image as a global leader as he stepped in for his father for significant events, giving the speech at the COP30 and attending the funeral of the late Pope Francis.

2026 will also prove to be a rewarding year for the heir to the throne despite the cut down on his travels, according to psychic Inbaal Honigman.

“He will be run off his feet, but with no overseas travel indicated, all of this activity takes place within the borders of the Kingdom,” she predicted.

King Charles had revealed that his cancer treatment can be “scaled back” as doctors have indicated positive recovery. Hence, the Palace has already indicated three major tours for Chales and Camilla next year.

In her tarot card reading, she determined to Tarotoo that William’s year be dictated by the “most positive” World card.

She claimed that this year will be “successful, joyous, and easygoing” and it will leave him with a sense of personal victory.

William will also be doing a lot of the work that he is passionate about. He is set to lend his name to “scientific research around longevity, and he will be photographed supporting animal conservation efforts, specifically relating to aviary species”. He is also expected to open a chain of schools.

It will be a rewarding year but a busy one.





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Taylor Swift reveals Travis Kelce is ‘right fit’ in new docuseries

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Taylor Swift reveals Travis Kelce is ‘right fit’ in new docuseries


Taylor Swift reveals Travis Kelce is ‘right fit’ in new docuseries

Travis Kelce has become a steady presence in Taylor Swift’s life, and the pop star says their shared careers have made all the difference.

In a new episode of her Disney+ docuseries The End of an Era, Swift, 36, opened up about how touring once made relationships difficult. “Relationships on tour has always been something I’ve really struggled with because it’s always felt like the tour was taking away from the relationship,” she said.

“Somehow, I was not able to do both and feel like I was nurturing both at the same time, even though I would try and try and try and try.”

That changed when she began dating the Kansas City Chiefs tight end. Swift explained there was a “dynamic shift” because both she and Kelce perform in stadiums for a living.

“We both have jobs where we go out in NFL stadiums, and we entertain people for three and a half hours,” she said. “His with considerably more violence than mine — but he’s not in heels. But it’s our passion. We’ve been chasing this since we were little kids.”

Swift added, “I don’t think I ever thought I’d meet a guy who had that same trajectory… You can have the two passions coexist, and they actually fuel each other.”

The couple has been publicly supportive of one another, with Kelce even joining Swift onstage during her Eras Tour stop in London. Fans cheered as he danced and helped carry her across the Wembley Stadium stage.

“The fans absolutely love Travis,” Swift said, adding that Swifties admire “the way he treats me.”

The couple announced their engagement on Instagram on August 26, marking another milestone in a love story that began with a friendship bracelet and a missed meeting.





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US issues sanctions on family members and associates of Venezuela’s Maduro

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US issues sanctions on family members and associates of Venezuela’s Maduro


Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro attends an event in Caracas, Venezuela, May 1, 2023. — Reuters

The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on family members and associates of Nicolas Maduro and his wife, as Washington ratchets up pressure on the Venezuelan president.

The US Treasury Department, in a statement, said it had imposed sanctions on seven people it said were tied to Maduro and his wife. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused them of “propping up Nicolas Maduro’s rogue narcostate.”

“We will not allow Venezuela to continue flooding our nation with deadly drugs,” Bessent said.

“Maduro and his criminal accomplices threaten our hemisphere’s peace and stability. The Trump administration will continue targeting the networks that prop up his illegitimate dictatorship.”

Venezuela’s information ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Maduro and his government have vehemently denied links to crime and say that the US is seeking to oust him to take control of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

In recent months, the administration of US President Donald Trump has been ratcheting up pressure on Maduro, executing a large-scale military buildup in the southern Caribbean.

It has carried out strikes against suspected drug vessels in the region, seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, and declared a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.

Trump has also repeatedly said that strikes on land in Venezuela are coming soon.

Friday’s action sanctioned relatives of Carlos Erik Malpica Flores, the nephew of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores. The US says Malpica Flores was involved in a corruption plot at state oil company PDVSA. He was sanctioned by Washington last week.

His mother – the sister of Maduro’s wife – as well as his father, sister, wife and daughter were hit with sanctions on Friday.

The Treasury on Friday also extended a general license protecting Venezuela-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum from creditors through February 3 that was set to expire on December 20. It was a far shorter extension than the last one the Treasury issued in June, which had a six-month duration.

Washington has protected the Houston-based company from creditors in recent years, even amid a court-organised auction of shares in its parent company, PDV Holding. The license temporarily bans transactions with a Venezuela-issued bond collateralised with Citgo equity.

A US judge in November authorised the sale of shares in the parent of Citgo Petroleum to an affiliate of Elliott Investment Management, following his approval of a $5.9 billion bid from the company in a court-organised auction to pay Venezuela-linked creditors.

The sale order, which is pending Treasury Department approval, was the last major legal step to wrap a two-year auction aimed at paying up to 15 creditors for debt defaults and expropriations.





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