Actress Wunmi Mosaku has stated that she cannot fully celebrate her Oscar nomination for her role in Sinners due to recent ICE enforcement actions, including reported killings in Minnesota. In an interview with The Sunday Times, she described the situation as dystopian and conflicting with the joy of the nomination. The 2026 Academy Awards are scheduled for March 15, hosted by Conan O’Brien.
Wunmi Mosaku, nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 2026 Academy Awards for her performance in Sinners, expressed in a recent interview with The Sunday Times that recent events involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have prevented her from enjoying the achievement.
“I’ve not been able to celebrate because of what’s going on right now, with the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minnesota and the kidnapping of a five-year-old boy,” Mosaku said. She added, “It’s difficult to hold both the nomination and the news because one feels beautiful and one is so dark and heavy; truly dystopian — how can I possibly go out and buy some drinks and enjoy the moment?”
Mosaku also reflected on cultural differences in processing such news. “[My husband] is not as shocked as I am at the news,” she noted. “There’s a very strange American psyche where terrible things happen and people still can go to work the next day, whereas I’m floored for a week and think, ‘How are people going to crowded places when this has just happened?’ I want a cocoon. My reaction reminds him that this is not normal.”
Her comments come amid broader Hollywood reactions to ICE enforcement. At the Grammys, Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny stated in his acceptance speech: “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say: ICE out. We are not savage. We are not animals. We are not aliens. We are humans, and we are American.”
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis told Variety that the situation is an “abhorrence,” saying, “It’s just inhuman. It is inhuman the way this administration is treating its citizens and its constituents and people in need. The ICE situation is out of control. It’s simply a distraction so that we don’t pay attention to the Epstein files.”
At the Sundance Film Festival last month, Olivia Wilde called for action against ICE, describing it as a criminal organization: “We can’t go another day accepting this as our new norm. It’s outrageous. People are being murdered, and I don’t want to normalize seeing that violence—on the internet or on film. It’s hideous. If we can do anything to support the movement to cast ICE out and delegitimize this criminal organization, then that’s what we should be doing.”
Additionally, Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage recited a poem dedicated to Renee Good, who was killed by an ICE agent during an altercation in Minneapolis. Singer Bruce Springsteen released a protest song last month featuring the lyric, “ICE out of Minneapolis.” Many stars have appeared at events wearing anti-ICE buttons and delivering speeches on immigration enforcement.
