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Billie Eilish Clarifies She Wasn’t Singling Out Taylor Swift

Author Laila Abuelhawa
Billie Eilish attends the 96th Annual Academy Awards on March 10, 2024 in Hollywood, California.

Billie Eilish clarifies she doesn’t want any “Bad Blood” with the Swifties, making sure it is known she wasn’t singling out Taylor Swift in a recent interview. As we reported, Eilish called out the popularity of musicians making multiple variants of the same album on vinyl as a ploy to make more money.

She wrote on her Instagram Story Sunday (March 31) to her 110 million followers: “okay so it would be awesome if people would stop putting words into my mouth and actually read what i said in that billboard article. i wasn’t singling anyone out, these are industry-wide systemic issues. & when it comes to variants, so many artists release them – including ME! which i clearly state in the article. the climate crisis is now and its about all of us being part of the problem and trying to do better sheesh.”

As the 22-year-old Grammy winner explained in her Billboard interview, she is furious about the “40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more.” You can practically hear the artist seething as she added, “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—.”

RELATED: Billie Eilish Wins Second Oscar With ‘What Was I Made For’

Despite the “What Was I Made For?” singer’s clarification, fans of both Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift swarmed to defend their favorite artists. One person wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “swifties being triggered for no reason and thinking she was referring to taylor just shows that’s what they think of taylor.” Another said: “It was taylor shade and we all know it.” A third said, “Billie was clearly shading Taylor, look at the ‘ME!’ on her post. She needs clout cz she’s releasing new music, no Taylor no clout.”

FIJI Water and JNSQ at Billboard's Women In Music 2019, Billie Eilish Clarifies She Wasn’t Singling Out Taylor Swift

(Photo by John Sciulli/Getty Images for FIJI Water )

Another person commented, “swifties really are the worst fanbase first harassing sza now billie to make them respond.” Added another, “Look what y’all done made her have to do. She clearly said ‘your favorite artists’ as in PLURAL. But y’all wanted to pin it on Taylor…”

Meanwhile, another person caught more apparent shade and added, “the ‘ME!’ shade is so obvious…Taylor’s best lead single catching strays-” Another Swiftie said, “‘including ME!’ So she’s a Tay tryer now.” One fan commented, “not her ending the swifties [crying emoji].”

These Songs Turn 5 in 2024

It is quite baffling that 2019 was five years ago! Time really does fly by, and it seems like it wasn’t that long ago that these pop songs dropped. Billie Eilish’s debut studio album, WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? released in March of that year, with her gorgeous vocals shining on tracks like “bury a friend,” “ilomilo,” and “i love you.” That same year, Lizzo’s third album, Cuz I Love You, was released the following month. She took radio waves by storm with bangers like “Truth Hurts,” “Tempo,” and “Juice.” Taylor Swift also released new music in 2019 with her seventh studio album, Lover. It was the singer-songwriter’s first album after her departure from Big Machine Records. The album featured such tracks as “Cruel Summer,” “Lover,” and “The Archer.” According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, it was the global best-selling studio album of 2019, with sales of 3.2 million copies.

New Perspectives and Artists

Ariana Grande’s fifth studio album, thank u, next, was released six months after her fourth studio album Sweetener. It was Grande’s most personal album recorded up to this point in her career, following the death of her ex-boyfriend Mac Miller and the end of her engagement to Pete Davidson. Songs like “thank u, next,” “fake smile,” and “7 rings” reflect on the artist’s personal flaws, grief and denial, as well as independence and self-empowerment. A newcomer to the pop music scene this year was Lil Nas X, who had major success the year prior with his collaboration with Billy Ray Cyrus on “Old Town Road.” His EP, 7, featured the award-winning track and the remixed version. The song went 17 times platinum in the US alone, and the music video has over 1.2 billion views on YouTube.

Take a look below at five songs that turn five in 2024:

  • 'bury a friend' -- Billie Eilish

    We love this synth-pop track, with dark and violent lyrics Eilish sings so well from the perspective of a monster under someone’s bed. She said, “Anything could be the monster — it could be someone you love so much that it’s taking over your life. I think love and terror and hatred are all the same thing.” And yeah, we know “bad guy” is on that album and yes, that’s a classic too. Don’t come at us! We just love “bury a friend.” 

  • 'Old Town Road' -- Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus

    Besides Lil Nas X’s 2021 track, “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name),” all his versions of “Old Town Road” continue to have classic status. The song initially gained popularity on TikTok and later that year, was certified diamond by the RIAA for selling ten million units in the US, making it the fastest song to be certified diamond.

  • 'Lover' -- Taylor Swift

    The title track is so timeless and it will surely be played at weddings for years to come. Swift said while recording, she imagined the production to sound like “just the last two people on a dance floor at 3 a.m. swaying.” The music video is just as romantic, but with a playful idea of Swift and her lover living the ups and downs of their life within a dollhouse.

  • 'break up with your girlfriend, i'm bored' -- Ariana Grande

    In this iconic pop R&B track, Ariana sees a guy at a club and is attracted to him, only to realize that he has a girlfriend who looks just like her — high ponytail and all. By lingering as a third wheel to the couple, he keeps looking back at Ariana. But by the end, she pushes him away and goes for his girlfriend. The video’s climax was seen as “queerbating” by some, but her choosing her lookalike insinuates she would rather love herself.

  • 'Juice' -- Lizzo

    Lizzo’s funky pop song was the lead single from Cuz I Love You. The self-esteem empowering track has an equally fun and empowering music video showcasing Lizzo’s self-love. In the video, the singer takes part in an ’80s-style workout program, late-night talk show, and selling products on an infomercial.

Laila Abuelhawa is the Top 40 and Hip-Hop pop culture writer for Beasley Media Group. Being with the company for over three years, Laila's fierce and fabulous red-carpet rankings have earned her a feature on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert!' Her favorite stories are those surrounding the latest in celebrity fashion, television and film rankings, and how the world reacts to major celebrity news. With a background in journalism, Laila's stories ensure accuracy and offer background information on stars that you wouldn't have otherwise known. She prides herself in covering stories that inform the public about what is currently happening and what is to come in the ever-changing, ever-evolving media landscape.

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Author Laila Abuelhawa
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