Karol G has said that she has been warned not to say “ICE out”, as doing so could lead to her losing her visa.
The Colombian pop star is set to make history later this week, as she will become the first Latina artist to headline Coachella Festival in California.
In a new interview with Playboy ahead of the slot, the singer said that she is eager to use her platform to speak out against issues she sees across America – in particular, the actions of ICE – but has been warned that this could come with consequences.
Sharing that she wants to call out ICE, Karol went on: “People will say, ‘It’s better you don’t… Because if you say the thing, maybe the next day you’ll get a call: ‘Hey, we are taking your visa away’.”
“You become bait, because some people want to show their power,” she added.
Karol then added that just the popular anti-ICE phrase “ICE out” would be a risky move, and quipped that even though her “team would kill” her if she said it, she isn’t letting that stop her from speaking her mind.
“I’m willing to say it… If I’m being honest with you, it’s something that crosses the line of what I have to do to protect myself. But at the end of the day, what is my role if I’m in this position?” she said, adding that she wants her comments to have a depth to them, rather than being said for the sake of it.
“I don’t want to just say ‘ICE Out’ and have nothing come from it… I’m probably going to go a little harder than that. I just want to represent my community,” she shared. “But what I’m telling you is that, as a human being, I want that to mean more. I’m not saying that I’m not going to do it; what I’m saying is that I would do it and will do it with my soul. But I want to sit down and understand, in my head: Here’s what that meant.”
Karol concluded: “I have a huge stage. That’s why I want to wait, and if someone were ever to do something to me, I want to stand firmly on my stage for my community. So that’s why I may have to be more careful, and wait for my turn, and ensure that, through that opportunity, I can talk and represent something more.”
The singer is set to close out both Sundays of the three-day festival in Indio, which takes place across two weekends in April (10-12 and 17-19). Also booked as headliners are Sabrina Carpenter and Justin Bieber.
Last year, Karol G was the headline act for the halftime show of YouTube’s first-ever broadcast of an NFL game.
Before then, she made history in 2023 with her fourth album ‘Mañana Será Bonito’, which became the first ever all-Spanish album by a female artist to land the Number One spot on the Billboard 200 chart.
She also made history as the first-ever Latin female artist to headline Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago.
