Jamie Foxx, Ariana Grande, and more celebrities join protests after George Floyd's death

Rachel Yang
·12 min read

Protests have spread across the country this week, with people turning out in droves in following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a white police officer.

Celebrities such as Tessa Thompson, Ariana Grande, Timothée Chalamet, and more have shown up to protests in Los Angeles, New York, and other U.S. cities, in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and other organizations. Additionally, public figures like Chrissy Teigen and Janelle Monáe have shown their support by making donations to go toward bailing out those arrested for protesting.

Tessa Thompson

Through her Twitter and Instagram Story accounts, the Westworld star documented her experience at the Los Angeles Black Lives Matter protest on Saturday. She shared a video of those in the streets kneeling and also shared that the event was peaceful until the LAPD "arrived and escalated it."

"@MayorOfLA are you seeing this? Also, where was the robust media coverage then?" the actress tweeted.

Ariana Grande

Grande also attended the protest and fought back against media coverage of the demonstration.

"hours and miles of peaceful protesting yesterday that got little to no coverage. all throughout beverly hills and west hollywood we chanted, people beeped and cheered along," the pop star tweeted. "we were passionate, we were loud, we were loving. cover this too please. #BLACKLIVESMATTER

Fans celebrated Grande for using her power to raise awareness for important issues. "Ariana Grande is one of the biggest artists in the world," one fan tweeted, along with a photo of the singer at the protest. "Not only did she use her platform to express her anger and pain towards what’s going on she also participated in the streets with the rest of the protesters."

Nick Cannon

The Masked Singer host and rapper Nick Cannon shared numerous photos of himself protesting in Minneapolis. He donned a shirt reading "Please I can't breathe," which echoed Floyd's words in the video of his arrest. "BUT THEY GON HEAR US LOUD AND CLEAR!!!" Cannon captured one post.

View this post on Instagram

#JusticeForFloyd

A post shared by NICK CANNON (@nickcannon) on May 29, 2020 at 5:11pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

BUT THEY GON HEAR US LOUD AND CLEAR!!! ???

A post shared by NICK CANNON (@nickcannon) on May 30, 2020 at 2:36pm PDT

Kehlani

Singer Kehlani also attended a protest in Los Angeles and shared searing black-and-white photos and videos from the scene. "LIVE. NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE. LOS ANGELES MAY 30TH 2020. RESPECT EXISTENCE OR EXPECT RESISTANCE," she captioned the post. "#BLACKLIVESMATTER OUTSIDE INSIDE TODAY YESTERDAY TOMORROW AND FOREVER. POWER TO THE PEOPLE."

Halsey

Halsey was also at the L.A. protest, and said cops fired "rubber bullets at us." In a frightening video she shared on her Instagram Story, you can hear the bullets being fired. The singer encouraged followers to donate to bail funds for those who were taken into police custody.

Later, on Sunday, the indie pop artist attended the Santa Monica protest and thanked singer Yungblud, who was with her and "who literally ran exposed in front of rounds being shot to drag wounded people to safety without even thinking twice."

Timothée Chalamet

The Little Women star was also at the Santa Monica protest. The actor brought with him a poster bearing the names of Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Breonna Taylor, and other victims of police brutality.

Kendrick Sampson

Insecure star Kendrick Sampson recounted how he was hit by rubber bullets unleashed by police while protesting in LA on Saturday. The actor, who was with his How To Get Away With Murder costar Matt McGorry at the event, later said he had a gun pointed directly at him and got hit "7 times with rubber bullets and many with batons."

John Cusack 

John Cusack, who was at the Chicago protest on Saturday, said cops "came at me with batons" and hit his bike. The actor even captured audio of police barking orders at him.

Cole Sprouse

Riverdale actor Cole Sprouse said he was arrested while protesting in Santa Monica on Sunday. He posted about the experience on Monday, writing that he wouldn't be talking about it anymore so as not to draw "attention away from the leaders of the #BLM movement."

View this post on Instagram

A group of peaceful protesters, myself included, were arrested yesterday in Santa Monica. So before the voracious horde of media sensationalism decides to somehow turn it about me, there’s a clear need to speak about the circumstances: Black Lives Matter. Peace, riots, looting, are an absolutely legitimate form of protest. the media is by nature only going to show the most sensational, which only proves a long standing racist agenda. I was detained when standing in solidarity, as were many of the final vanguard within Santa Monica. We were given the option to leave, and were informed that if we did not retreat, we would be arrested. When many did turn to leave, we found another line of police officers blocking our route, at which point, they started zip tying us. It needs to be stated that as a straight white man, and a public figure, the institutional consequences of my detainment are nothing in comparison to others within the movement. This is ABSOLUTELY not a narrative about me, and I hope the media doesn’t make it such. This is, and will be, a time about standing ground near others as a situation escalates, providing educated support, demonstrating and doing the right thing. This is precisely the time to contemplate what it means to stand as an ally. I hope others in my position do as well. I noticed that there are cameras that roll within the police cruisers during the entirety of our detainment, hope it helps. I’ll speak no more on the subject, as I’m (1) not well versed enough to do so, (2) not the subject of the movement, and (3) uninterested in drawing attention away from the leaders of the #BLM movement. I will be, again, posting the link in my story to a comprehensive document for donations and support.

A post shared by Cole Sprouse (@colesprouse) on Jun 1, 2020 at 1:14pm PDT

"It needs to be stated that as a straight white man, and a public figure, the institutional consequences of my detainment are nothing in comparison to others within the movement," Sprouse wrote in his post. "This is, and will be, a time about standing ground near others as a situation escalates, providing educated support, demonstrating and doing the right thing."

Other public figures have donated to help bail out protesters. Teigen originally gave $100,000, but doubled her donation after a commenter called protesters "rioters and criminals."

"Ooo they might need more money then. Make it $200,000," she replied to the user.

On Thursday, Monáe donated $1000 to the Minnesota Freedom Fund, a nonprofit helping to bail out protesters. She matched rapper Noname's donation, and other celebrities giving in that amount also included Kehlani, Kali Uchis, and Jameela Jamil.

Jamie Foxx

Actor Jamie Foxx visited Minneapolis on Friday to join community leaders and protesters in the city where Floyd was killed. Foxx told the crowd he wasn't there as "a celebrity." "These are my brothers. This means everything because, at the end of the day when we see you guys out here on the frontline, we want to let you know you got support."

On Monday, Foxx also showed up in the Bay Area to help lead a kneel-in protest on the steps of San Francisco City Hall.

Here are more celebrities who attended protests across the country this week:

Miguel

J. Cole 

Machine Gun Kelly

View this post on Instagram

justice soon...???????????

A post shared by Colson ?????♂??? the Blonde Don (@machinegunkelly) on May 30, 2020 at 3:38pm PDT

Ellen Page

Paris Jackson

Tinashe

View this post on Instagram

Show up.

A post shared by Nashe if ur Nasty (@tinashenow) on May 29, 2020 at 9:07pm PDT

Lauren Jauregui

Cody Fern

Chance the Rapper 

Lil Yachty

Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas

The event that Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas attended was also held to save a historically black church that the new owner wants to turn into a residential compound.

Keke Palmer

Richard Madden

John Boyega

To help combat systemic racism, please consider donating to these organizations:

  • Campaign Zero, which is dedicated to ending police brutality in America through research-based strategies.

  • Color of Change, which moves decision-makers in corporations and government to be more responsive to racial disparities.

  • Equal Justice Initiative, which works to end mass incarceration, excessive punishment, and racial inequality.

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