Bruce Springsteen Receives Social Justice Award, Sits Down With Bono At Tribeca Fest

BusinessHollywood & EntertainmentBruce Springsteen Receives Social Justice Award, Sits Down With Bono At Tribeca FestByCathy Applefeld Olson,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Cathy Applefeld Olson is a journalist and founder of Hollywood & MindFollow AuthorJun 14, 2026, 07:46pm EDTBruce Springsteen speaks onstage with Bono during the 2026 Tribeca Festival Getty Images for Tribeca FestivalThere’ something particularly poetic about Bruce Springsteen receiving this year’s Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award at the Tribeca Festival.The award, introduced by festival founders Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal and followed by a lengthy conversation with Bono on June 13, comes as the festival celebrates its 25th anniversary, a week after Springsteen cut the ribbon on the new Center for American Music in New Jersey that bears his name, and as he concludes his Land of Hope & Dreams Tour across the U.S.—an impassioned urging for the return of democracy and evisceration of the Trump administration through song and speech.Dedicating the accolade to the people of Minneapolis, Portland and Los Angeles who’ve stood “against the federal invasion of their cities this year,” the 20-time Grammy winner acknowledged, “I’m a little embarrassed to get this award. At best,” he told Bono, “I’m just a concerned citizen. And what do I do? I sing my songs, I say a few things and wish for the best.”In his introduction, De Niro characteristically pulled no punches as he praised Springsteen’s ability to “move people with the music he creates… He uses it to lead the resistance. He knows what the problem is and he names it: Donald J. Trump and his feckless enablers. That’s so important, because this isn't about reasonable disputes on policy. This is about the corruption and megalomania of one person. Bruce Springsteen puts a face on it, and he does it with the words of a poet.”As Springsteen put it, “I warned everybody what...