Singer-songwriter Ethel Cain has sparked controversy after appearing to intervene in the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson with a hashtag calling for the deaths of more company executives.
The 26-year-old took to social media on Friday with a series of Instagram posts in which she shared her thoughts on the role corporations play in American politics.
Cain, from Tallahassee, Florida, shared a message from Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor condemned major industries, including insurance collectives.
It described how these powerful corporations are “buying off Congress” and that “money in politics is the root of our dysfunction.”
Cain shared the post on her own Instagram, but chose to add the hashtag #KillMoreCEOs above it.
The post appeared to reference Thompson’s recent murder and appeared to express support for his accused killer, Luigi Mangione.
In a follow-up post on Instagram, Cain let her followers know that what she was about to say was not intended to seem “reactionary” or “edgy” or to encourage “shock value” in any way.
The 26-year-old took to social media on Friday with a series of Instagram posts in which she shared her thoughts on the role corporations play in American politics.
Cain, from Tallahassee, Florida, shared a message from Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor, condemning major industries, including insurance collectives.
The message appeared to reference Thompson’s recent murder and appeared to express support for his accused killer, Luigi Mangione, who was seen here in December.
“I really mean what I say,” she wrote. ‘Companies giggle at protests. Why would anyone ever willingly come down from their throne when they have worked for years to build up the suffering of their fellow human beings?”
“No one is visited by the ghost of Christmas Future, no one changes their minds,” she continued. “It’s simple: you make them fear for their lives and hit them in the only place that hurts, otherwise nothing will ever be done.”
‘I don’t even understand why that’s an incredibly radical idea. It seems quite simple to me. “Violence is never the answer” is wrong. Sometimes it is,” the post concluded, accompanied by a shrug.
She followed it up with another short post, saying, “the world is on fire and it’s very clear who’s holding the matches.”
Mangione has become somewhat of a pseudo-celebrity in recent weeks after being arrested on December 9 following a five-day search.
The 26-year-old alleged killer has received thousands of dollars in donations and hundreds of handwritten letters while in prison.
Thousands of social media users have also gone online to cheer the execution since Thompson was first shot dead outside the Hilton Midtown in New York.
Both those who support Mangione and those who don’t waste time sharing their thoughts on Cain’s controversial posts.
In a follow-up post on Instagram, Cain informed her followers that what she was about to say was not intended to seem “reactionary” or “edgy” or to encourage “shock value” in any way.
The message appeared to reference the recent murder of Thompson, seen here, and appeared to express support for his accused killer
While some agreed — and even went so far as to say they were going to listen to her music — others criticized both her words and those who advocated them.
“She’s not wrong,” read one comment on X.
“Our system has been completely taken over by corporate interests and most of us are literally paying with our lives.
‘We cannot expect that same system to change itself. We must take matters into our own hands, just like our founding fathers did.”
Another read: ‘She is such a queen.’ “Evil sh**,” said another. ‘Stop killing people.’ Someone else interjected: “Rich girl pretends to be anti-rich lmfao, okay sure.”
“This is fucking insane,” one user wrote. “This level of incitement to violence is wild.”
Hundreds of comments on X told her to be careful and “light on her feet.”
Mangione has become somewhat of a pseudo-celebrity in recent weeks after being arrested on December 9 following a five-day search
Those who support Mangione, but also those who waste no time sharing their thoughts on Cain’s controversial posts – some even going so far as to say they would start listening to her music
Some even wondered if she was making such bold statements as a way to promote her new album Perverts, which was released earlier this week.
But this isn’t the first time Cain has hinted at her thoughts on the murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO.
Around the time of Mangione’s arrest, Cain used her Instagram Story to share a separate post condemning big corporations again.
“These companies don’t care about you, or your children or grandchildren. They have no qualms about burning the planet down for a few dollars, so why should we have any qualms about burning them down to survive?” read the message.
“We are animals just like everything else on this planet, except we have forgotten the law of the jungle and bow to our overlords when any other animal would recognize the threat and fight to the death for their survival,” it continued.
Violence has never solved anything’ is a statement of cowards and predators.’ Violence begets violence,” Cain wrote just above the post.