Cold Hard Bitch: Fox News v. Hayley Williams

• OCT. 29, 2026
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• WRITTEN BY SOFIA TERESE GLANTZ

Fox News has a new favourite enemy: Hayley Williams.

A Hayley Williams show is where you would expect to hear “Fuck ICE.” A Hayley Williams show is where fans will scream in support of a “Free Palestine.” Williams, currently touring the United States on The Hayley Williams Show, has made headlines over the past few weeks for her political proclamations.

During her shows, she shouts “Fuck ICE” and “Free Palestine” during “Ice In My OJ,” and precedes the politically-charged “True Believer” with a speech about democracy and Christian nationalism, which she identifies as the “greatest threat to American democracy.”

I have been watching (with hearts in my eyes) videos of Williams performing these songs, including the political outcries, for far longer than the headlines suggest. At her shows, Hayley speaks to the choir, and they sing back to her every night; but when the choir became Fox News, her notes landed sour on their ears.

Picking up on Williams’ mid-concert commentary, Fox News contacted the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal bureau in charge of ICE agents, to release a statement on Williams’ nightly speeches. The bureau responded: “America is grateful all the time for our federal law enforcement officers who keep us safe. We suggest Ms. Williams to thank them for their service, not belittle their sacrifice.”

To DHS’ condescending response, Williams replied on Instagram, “And may I suggest all Nazi bitches suck on my fat dick.”

From a scroll through Fox News’ various articles about Hayley Williams, a true-blood Southerner herself, it becomes apparent that the news agency has long held a grudge against the singer. Their reporting claims that she “targeted Republican voters,” by condemning Ron Desantis’ supporters. In the past, the agency also contacted right-wing Christian spokesperson Lisa Cusack for a quote claiming that Williams is “ignorant of Christianity,” despite her well-documented Christian upbringing.

Neither Fox News nor DHS will silence Williams' catalyzing voice as a musician and activist. In the videos that surfaced immediately following her altercation, she gutturally voices both “Fuck ICE” and “Free Palestine,” in a blood-stained white dress.

Fox News’ attacks have only fed the politically-charged diatribes that punctuate Williams’ shows, for both the audience and the singer herself. What is interesting and concerning about this story is not the censorship but the censorship campaign itself.

From Macklemore’s removal from Ed Sheeran’s Loop Tour for saying “Free Palestine” in September to Williams’ recent clash with DHS, right-wing media outlets and supporters of major capital have been increasingly concerned about artists speaking out against genocide and fascism in the United States. Leading up to the midterms this November, those with real stakes in continued fascism in the United States—the investors, PACs, and lobbyists who profit from war and loose regulations—need the American public to be ignorant of the world for just one more month.

By stopping Macklemore from touring stadiums, one less voter might google the Nakba and second-guess the Trump administration’s motivations in the Middle East. By reporting Hayley Williams as launching “tirades” against federal agents, the stereotypes of misogyny (a woman is throwing a tantrum!) might stop one fan from remembering to check their voter registration. By preventing Williams’ rage from propelling into concentrated rooms of furious voters across the nation, maybe the top 1%—the data centre builders and munitions suppliers, the fascists and the wealth hoarders—will be able to walk the streets peacefully for just a little longer.

If we let Hayley’s voice reach us, from the venue, over the border, to our ears, we can hear her message loud and clear: don’t give up, don’t give in, and go out and vote.