Ethel Cain has responded to criticism regarding her post which used the hashtag “KillMoreCEOs”.
Earlier this month, the musician shared her thoughts on the high-profile murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson after he was shot dead outside a Manhattan hotel in December.
The killing led to a manhunt that lasted several days, with police eventually arresting Luigi Mangione, who was found carrying a three-page manifesto in which he criticised the American healthcare system.
In response on January 10, Cain expressed frustration with the system and said that while she wasn’t being “reactionary”, violence was “sometimes” the answer. “It’s simple,” she wrote. “You make them fear for their lives and hit them in the only place they hurt or nothing will ever get done.” She signed off the Instagram post with the hashtag “KillMoreCEOs”.
She was then met with a surge of backlash and criticism, mainly from conservatives and the right wing. Fox News even called for a boycott of the musician because of her “terrorist” and “depraved” comments. “The message there is violence is the answer,” said Guy Benson on the American channel. “You know who used that exact same mentality, that type of language? Terrorists. That is actual terrorism, what she’s talking about here … This should be a very clear black-and-white moral issue, and it is scary to see how much support that type of sentiment has gotten.”
In a new post on Tumblr, Cain responds to the criticism she has faced for making comments. She argues that neither the “corrupt” healthcare system nor climate change is “a red vs. blue issue”, and she also defends her position which she claims shouldn’t be seen as a “woke liberal standpoint”.
It concluded: “Since when has “upholding traditional values” gone hand in hand with… defending lawmakers and oil tycoons? My family and I complain about the same issues at the dinner table. The men in charge better hope they can keep their digital smokescreens running as long as they can because the moment the rednecks and the hippies lay down their swords long enough to realise they have the same enemy, all hell is gonna break loose.”
Read the full post below.
Magione dominated headlines for several weeks in late 2024, developing something of a cult following online. After his arrest, Mangione became an internet meme phenomenon – and now two documentaries about him are already in the works.
Back in December, Chris Rock made a joke about Thompson’s death in his monologue. During his fourth stint as Saturday Night Live (SNL) host, he touched on the internets reaction to Mangione.
Earlier this month Cain released her newest album ‘Perverts’, which was given four stars by NME in a review. It reads: “Casual fans may not last even three minutes. But for those who are willing to sit with its discomfort, ‘Perverts’ reveals hidden depths – the same way that eyes need time to adjust to low light. What it reflects is in the eye of the beholder.”