An Australian man says he was just deported from the United States for joking about moving Billie Eilishhis mansion.
Drew Pavlou is a 25-year-old political activist best known for protesting against the Chinese government. He was once arrested outside the Chinese embassy in London. He ran for the Australian Senate. He describes himself as a “misunderstood theorist of global justice”. If you haven’t heard of him, that’s okay. Ten million people just did.
After Eilish told the Grammy audience that “nobody’s illegal on stolen land” and added “f–k ICE,” Pavlou posted on X that she’s moving into her Malibu beachfront mansion because “no human being is illegal on stolen land.” He launched a GoFundMe. GoFundMe cleared it at $3,000. Moved to GiveSendGo. He booked a flight.
He actually got on the plane.
What happened at LAX
He never passed immigration. Pavlou says he was detained for over 30 hours. Customs asked if he planned to trespass on Eilish’s property. He told them he was doing shit. They asked if he had ever threatened to blow up Chinese government facilities.
He laughed. They didn’t.
He claims Eilish’s legal team informed DHS – although no confirmation has emerged. What is confirmed: He got food poisoning from a microwaved burrito, read hundreds of pages of Roberto Bolaño in a detention facility, and was sent back to Australia. His post about it has 10 million views. Elon Musk replied: “The most ironic outcome is the most likely.”
Eilish didn’t answer.
It wasn’t even the first
Here’s the thing – Pavlou isn’t the first person to test what Eilish said. He’s the only one who got on a plane. The list began to grow the morning after the speech.
Within hours, people were pointing out that her $2.3 million Glendale mansion is on the ancestral land of the Tongva tribe – the indigenous people of the Los Angeles Basin. I am not a historical footnote. They are an active tribe seeking federal recognition. A spokesperson for Tongva confirmed to Newsweek that Eilish’s home is “located on our ancestral land” and that she has never contacted them. Not before the speech. Not after. Not even a DM.
They added a demand that is easy to miss and hard to forget – that people actually call Tongva when they talk about “stolen land”, instead of using the phrase as a white slogan without specifying whose land it was.
Eilish didn’t answer.
Two days later, the Sinai law firm in LA offered X to evict Eilish pro bono on Tongva’s behalf. Attorney Avi Sinai later told the New York Post that the offer was satirical. But his following had teeth: “It’s both empty virtue signaling and used as a weapon at the same time,” he wrote. “No one elected is giving the land back to Tongva. Just like Billie Eilish won’t be evicted or give her house back.”
Eilish didn’t answer.
A GB News reporter then drove to her Glendale mansion and stood at the gate. “Billie, let us in, please. We’re here because this is stolen land.” The gate remained closed. The property she called stolen was secured behind a type of gate that suggests the person inside believes strongly in property boundaries.
Eilish didn’t answer.
The Pile-On
Drew Pavlou takes a selfie at LAX immigration after being detained for over 30 hours. He says customs officials questioned him about his viral posts joking about moving into Billie Eilish’s mansion. Image credit: @DrewPavlou
By this time, half of political America had intervened. Senator Mike Lee said anyone making an acknowledgment of “stolen land” should surrender their land. Kevin O’Leary told Eilish to “shut up and have fun”. Mark Ruffalo told O’Leary to shut up instead. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem called Grammy performers “ill-informed celebrity musicians.” Elon Musk called Eilish a “hypocrite”. Trump called the Grammys “garbage.”
Senators, cabinet secretaries, billionaires, Shark Tank hosts, the Hulk—they’re all talking about Billie Eilish. The only person who didn’t talk about Billie Eilish was Billie Eilish.
Her brother Finneas chimed in on Threads: “Seeing a bunch of very powerful old white men outraged by what my 24-year-old sister said during her acceptance speech. We can literally see your name in the Epstein files.”
This was the closest thing to a response from the Eilish camp. Billie herself said nothing.
Two weeks of silence
Image credit: @billieeilish/Instagram
Here’s what Billie Eilish said publicly on February 1: “No one is illegal on stolen land. F–k ICE.”
That’s it—at least on this subject.
Since then, the Tongva tribe has confirmed that he lives on their land. A law firm offered to evict her using her own words. A reporter appeared at her gate. A senator, a Shark Tank host, the DHS secretary, and the president all chimed in. And an Australian poster says he was deported – possibly by the same immigration system he told the Grammys to screw.
Eilish did not clarify whether “no one is illegal on stolen land” applied to Tongva tribal members, Australian posters or British reporters standing at her gate.
The gate, for the record, is still closed.