Performance art can indeed be subjective, just like any other art form, and sadly for an Australian influencer, an airport in California didn’t like what he was trying to do. Apparently, the influencer joked many times about invading Billie Eilish’s mansion, which was supposedly on “stolen land,” once owned by Native Americans. The man then cited this joke as the reason why the airport detained him for 30 hours and eventually deported him, going so far as blaming Billie Eilish.
Controversial activist Drew Pavlou, 26, is the man in question, and he claims he was detained and deported from LAX in Los Angeles after publicly joking about moving into Billie Eilish’s $3 million mansion. The stunt was meant to mock the pop star’s recent Grammy Awards speech, where she declared “no one is illegal on stolen land” and added an expletive aimed at ICE while accepting Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards.
Pavlou’s stunt in California ended not with a viral mansion protest, but with a 30-hour immigration hold and a flight back home. Pavlou even launched a crowdfunding campaign to “move into” Eilish’s Los Angeles property, framing it as satire. He insisted he would not break the law and planned only to ring the doorbell and leave if asked. But when he landed at LAX, he says federal agents were waiting.
“I spent 30 hours at LAX immigration trying to explain that my [expletive] posts were just a joke and that I didn’t actually plan to personally move into her mansion,” Pavlou wrote on X. Adding further that, “I suffered for my art.” He then blames Eilish for why he got deported from the US.
It might not be because of the joke
While Pavlou alleged Eilish’s legal team may have contacted the Department of Homeland Security, there is no public evidence confirming that claim. Pavlou later posted what he said was his deportation paperwork and described being questioned about his activism history and online statements.
Airport authorities ultimately told the influencer that he had entered on the wrong visa and would need to apply differently in the future. Pavlou also claimed that he was not exactly permanently banned from the United States. Meanwhile, Eilish has not publicly commented on the incident.
X users, however, are not exactly sympathetic with Pavlou’s predicament, with a commenter expressing, “Stop lying for attention. You were denied entry for not having the correct visa,” at the influencer’s claim that Billie Eilish got him deported. Others were calling out Pavlou, as he apparently still accepted the proceeds of the crowdfunding, even though it wasn’t supposed to be serious, as one commenter questions, “If it was just a joke, why did you accept crowd funding to go there and literally attempted to enter the country?”
