Green Day singer to 'renounce US citizenship' - stars livid over Roe reversal, others happy
He has always been very critical of his country - just listen to songs like 'American Idiot' or the sarcastic 'Welcome to Paradise' - but now Billie Joe Armstrong of rock band Green Day has definitely had it. He's leaving the US, he says, after the Supreme Court revoked the legalization of abortion in his country.
The Green Day singer made his announcement during a concert in London, saying he was "renouncing" his US citizenship and moving to the UK. As Deadline reported, Armstrong said: "I'm not kidding, you're going to get a lot of me in the coming days." And he's not the only one who's mad about the Supreme Court decision.
On Friday June 24, the US Supreme Court made the decision to reverse the obligation of states to allow abortions. This means that, in a number of American states, it will very likely and very soon be prohibited to end a pregnancy - even if the childbearing woman or girl is in a dire state.
Several celebrities reacted in horror to the historic decision which radically decreases the right to self-determination and privacy of women. Others favored the decision. Click further to see who they are and what they said.
Taylor Swift commented on Twitter: "I'm absolutely terrified that this is where we are - that after so many decades of people fighting for women’s rights to their own bodies, today’s decision has stripped us of that."
Swift had made her remark while reposting Michelle Obama's comments on the reversal of Roe v. Wade.
"I am heartbroken that we may now be destined to learn the painful lessons of a time before Roe was made law of the land — a time when women risked losing their lives getting illegal abortions," the former First Lady posted on several social media.
"This is what our mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers lived through, and now here we are again," she continued. "This horrifying decision will have devastating consequences, and it must be a wake-up call, especially to the young people who will bear its burden."
Seth MacFarlane, who has treated the topic of abortion in his show 'Family Guy,' tweeted that "not too long ago, this would have been dystopian sci-fi. But the legacy of the 2016 election and the indelible mark of the GOP is printed here in black and white. How much farther this will go once again depends on American voters. Blame extremism or apathy, but this is America."
Rock band Pearl Jam has always been outspoken on the topic. In their MTV Unplugged concert, in 1992, singer Eddie Vedder already controversially wrote 'PRO CHOICE' on his arm during a song. Now, the band tweets:
"No one, not the government, not politicians, not the Supreme Court should prevent access to abortion, birth control, and contraceptives. People should have the FREEDOM to choose."
The model, whose parents are Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin, was among many celebrities to use profanities in her public reaction to the news. Then, she said that she was "ashamed to be an American."
"They did it. THEY DID IT TO US!" the actress and singer tweeted "#SCOTUS has overturned #RoevWade, enshrined in the Constitution as settled law for over 50 years. How dare they? This #SCOTUS is absolutely tone-deaf to the will and even the actual needs of the American people. #WakeUpAmerica."
And she went a step further "GET READY, GAYS. YOU'RE NEXT," she said, referring to phrases in recent Supreme Court decisions that hinted at undoing the right to same-sex marriage or even a same-sex relationship.
Not everyone was indignant about the ruling, though. Television presenter and former New York State judge Jeanine Pirro said it was a good thing states could decide about abortion again. "The Supreme Court did not take away the so-called 'right' to abortion," she tweeted. "They left it up to the states and the people to decide. Isn’t that democracy?"
The former U.S. president appointed three of the judges who now voted to overturn the legalization of abortion. All three of them, by the way, including Amy Coney Barrett (in this picture) had sworn under oath during their confirmation hearings that they would not touch Roe v. Wade.
In an interview with Fox News, cited by People Magazine, Trump reacted to the decision by saying that it was "following the Constitution, and giving rights back... to the states where it has always belonged." He also thought that, "in the end, this is something that will work out for everybody."
Fox News asked Trump if he thought he'd played a part in this important reversal, and he answered: "God made the decision." His son Donald Trump Jr. is clearly a bit less circumvent about it. He tweeted that he was "proud" of his father for "what he has accomplished today."
Writer and tv host Padma Lakshmi explained why the decision was so dangerous for many women. "People will still get abortions," she tweeted. "This will only prevent safe, legal abortions from taking place."
Sophie Turner agrees about that. In a video about the Supreme Court decision she said it set the country back 50 years and "isn't going to save any lives. It's going to kill and endanger millions of women who are going to end up getting backstreet abortions, dangerous back street abortions, and end up dying from it."
For the pop star, the new ruling comes close to home. "It is truly unfathomable and disheartening to have to try to explain to my 11 year old daughter why we live in a world where women's rights are disintegrating in front of our eyes," she wrote on social media.
Her ex and the father of her daughter, Nick Cannon, has not spoken about the news so far (he's busy promoting his new album), but he may not agree with his ex-wife about it. He has equaled abortion with "population control” and said that Planned Parenthood is responsible for "real genocide" against the Black community, according to Popcrush. So he may not mind it if certain states outlaw the procedure.
Jameela Jamil asked a few pressing questions on Instagram with regard to the expected prohibition of abortion in certain states. "Who is gonna pay for all these unwanted babies?" she wrote. "Who is giving out free healthcare to people forced to follow through pregnancies?"
Billie Eilish had an interesting point of view on the whole public debate about birth control in the United States. She sings in her latest song, 'TV,' that "the internet's gone wild watching movie stars on trial," referring to the buzz around the case of Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard, but no one seemed to be paying attention "while they’re overturning Roe v. Wade."
Actor Josh Gad kept things short in his reaction to the Supreme Court decision. "You don’t need 280 characters today," he tweeted. "Just one word: Rage."
"Everybody gets a gun but nobody gets bodily autonomy," actress and producer Elizabeth Banks wrote. "This is devastating news for families - Men and women - who believe the government should not decide when and with whom they become parents."
Khloé, Kim and Kourtney Kardashian responded directly to the news about the reversal of Roe v. Wade and also commented on the lack of action to control gun violence by the same Supreme Court. In the photo of their Instagram posts, it said: "In America, guns have more rights than women."
Their younger sister, Kendall Jenner, also had a brief response on Instagram to the news of the day: "disturbing... disappointing... devastating..."
Actor Kirk Cameron, who became famous in the 80s with 'Growing Pains,' is a staunch opponent of the right to an abortion. A few weeks before the expected decision of the Supreme Court came out, he wrote on Instagram: "Pray with me that Roe *will* be overturned this summer and that moms and dads return to valuing all lives, including the lives of their babies in the womb."
Actor and director Kevin Sorbo wrote a very brief response to the news on Friday: "Life wins." He's never made it a secret that he is very much against abortion as an inalienable right for women.
(In the image, a younger Kevin Sorbo playing Hercules)
The Oscar winner was one of many who already saw this momentous change coming. "And so it goes... Gutted," she tweeted, "Now more than ever we have to use our voice and power!"
In response to the news, singer Lizzo pledged on Twitter that she would donate $500,000 from the earnings of her next tour to Planned Parenthood and other organizations supporting reproductive health and freedom. Live Nation Entertainment, the corporation selling the tickets, agreed to match her donation, bringing the total up to 1 million.
The Brit Harry Styles wrote on social media that he was "absolutely devastated for the people of America." He also addressed his followers directly: "Check on your friends. Look after each other. We're all in this together, and the fight is just beginning. A truly dark day for America."
The mom from 'Everybody Loves Raymond' did not offer a response in her own words, but she did retweet a statement by health clinic Claris that suggests women have sometimes been pressured into having abortions.
A few weeks earlier, also on Twitter, Heaton said that "the rabid desire to kill inconvenient human beings seems to be everywhere," referring to an article about euthanasia but linking it to the current debate about abortion. In 2018, she had already called freedom of abortion "tyrannical and barbaric," Popcrush recalls.
Former 'Desperate Housewife' actress Eva Longoria said that the end of women's guaranteed to decide was an "attack on women’s freedom."
In this image, she poses with colleague Scarlett Johansson at the 2018 Women's March. Johansson, too, has often spoken out as being pro-choice.
"What a sad day for this country," talk show host Andy Cohen tweeted. "Guns for everybody and no reproductive rights. Twisted. Twisted."
Author and blogger Glennon Doyle, known from the bestseller 'Untamed,' offered "comfort to every human being who feels afraid right now. I feel afraid too," she said on Twitter. "It is okay to feel afraid and tender now. Soon, the anger returns and we fight like bloody h***."
Jonathan Van Ness, the 'Queer Eye' star in the middle of this group photo, thinks the decision is "heartbreaking" and added: "This is about controlling bodies and keeping people in systemic poverty for generations."
Wonder Woman also let her voice be heard in the wake of the historic Supreme Court decision. She called it a "tragedy" and said that "the heartbreak this has caused is immeasurable. But someday, hopefully soon, we WILL find our way to a future where reproductive freedom is forever enshrined in federal law."
Arnold Schwarzenegger's ex-wife and the former First Lady of California also had a combative tone in her public reaction to the news. First of all, she said that "this decision rocks my world... [It is] devastating." But then she continued: "This court has just lit a fire, started a revolution."
In a following tweet, she said: "I refuse to be silent. I refuse to give up. Women across this country are going to rise up like you've never seen. If you thought we were a lot before, just wait."