Billie Eilish has weighed in on her controversial statement that recently garnered the ire of Taylor Swift’s fans. In an interview, Eilish criticized artists who release multiple versions of their albums, and some netizens speculated that she was subtly calling out Swift.
Following Swifties’ criticism on social media, the 22-year-old singer has clarified that she was not singling out any artist, including the “Anti-Hero” hitmaker.
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Billie Eilish Says She Wasn’t ‘Singling Out Anyone’
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In a recent Billboard interview about her efforts to make her professional life more environmentally sustainable, Eilish spoke out against the now-common practice of unnamed “big artists” releasing multiple versions of their albums.
Her comments immediately sparked outrage from Swifties after some social media users speculated that she was subtly shading the “Bad Blood” singer.
Eilish has now taken to her Instagram Stories to offer a statement in her defense while also tagging her original Billboard interview.
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Instagram Stories | Billie Eilish
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“Okay, so it would be so awesome if people would stop putting words into my mouth and actually read what I said in that billboard article,” she wrote.
“I wasn’t singling anyone out; these are industry-wide systemic issues,” Eilish added.
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Billie Eilish Says She Is Guilty Of Releasing Multiple Album Variants
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In her statement, the “Bad Guy” singer also admitted that she was guilty of releasing variants to encourage fans to buy the same album multiple times.
However, it wasn’t clear if she made those decisions or if her record label had the final say over her releases.
“[And] when it comes to variants, so many artists release them—including ME! which I clearly state in the article,” she continued.
“The climate crisis is now, and it’s about all of us being part of the problem and trying to do better, sheesh,” Eilish concluded.
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The Singer Called The Move ‘Wasteful’
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In the interview with Billboard, Eilish lamented the environmental impact of such practices and noted how “big artist” who do it are “wasteful,” all in a bid to boost album and vinyl sales.
She said, “We live in this day and age where, for some reason, it’s very important to some artists to make all sorts of different vinyl and packaging … which ups the sales and ups the numbers and gets them more money and gets them more…”
“I can’t even express to you how wasteful it is,” she noted. “It is right in front of our faces, and people are just getting away with it left and right.”
“I find it really frustrating as somebody who really goes out of my way to be sustainable and do the best that I can and try to involve everybody in my team in being sustainable — and then it’s some of the biggest artists in the world making f—— 40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more,” Eilish continued.
“It’s so wasteful, and it’s irritating to me that we’re still at a point where you care that much about your numbers and you care that much about making money — and it’s all your favorite artists doing that s—,” she added.
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Swifties Slammed Her For The Comment
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Eilish’s clarification didn’t come early enough, as she garnered the ire of Swift’s fans, who slammed her for her comment and bragged that Swift’s album sales were higher than hers.
“Billie was literally describing Taylor’s tactic with TTPD. It was so unnecessary,” a fan claimed.
Another felt Eilish’s comments were unwarranted and hypocritical, commenting: “The dig at Taylor and other similar artists about charts and numbers was unnecessary and detracts from her original point. Billie herself put out multiple vinyl variants (sustainably) so her point about chart and number obsession is hypocritical.”
“Swifties and K-pop stans found on the floor,” one X user tweeted.
Another fan shared a video of Eilish splattering white paint on her latest album. “She was literally doing this for sales, calling it ‘signed,'” they said.
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Sustainability Is A Never-Ending Fight For Billie Eilish
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Elsewhere in her interview with Billboard, Eilish weighed in on the area of her career that isn’t quite where she’d like it to be in terms of sustainability.
She noted that the quest for improved climatic conditions is a never-ending fight but expressed that she can’t achieve it alone.
“It’s a never-ending f—– fight,” Eilish said. “As we all know, it’s pretty impossible to force someone to care. All you can do is express and explain your beliefs, but a lot of people don’t really understand the severity of the climate [crisis].”
She continued, “And if they do, they’re like, ‘Well, what’s the point? We’re all going to die anyway.’ Believe me, I feel that way too. But ‘what’s the point’ goes both ways: ‘What’s the point? I can do whatever I want. We’re all going to die anyway.’ Or, ‘What’s the point? I might as well do the right thing while I’m here.’ That’s my view.”