Billie Eilish wants everyone to stop focusing on her sexuality, asking "why can't we just exist?" The Bad Guy singer was questioned on the red carpet for the Variety Hitmakers event about whether she meant to 'come out' after she made a brief reference to her sexuality in a recent interview.
In response to a reporter asking if it had been an intentional move, Billie responded: "No, I didn’t, but I kinda thought… wasn’t it obvious? I just didn’t realise people didn’t know."
Billie went on to say how she finds 'coming out' in general problematic. She added: "I just don’t really believe in it. Why can’t we just exist? I’ve been doing this for a long time and I just didn’t talk about… whoops. I saw all the articles [and] was like, 'Oh, I guess I came out today. Ok cool.' But it’s exciting to me because I guess people didn’t know, so it’s cool that they know. I am for the girls."
Billie Eilish opens up about coming out in her Variety cover story: "I didn't realize people didn't know!" | Variety Hitmakers presented by @sonyelectronics https://t.co/xxmgD0zs3Y pic.twitter.com/uDDbCk6tgpDecember 2, 2023
Fans of the singer on social media were quick to defend her, with one writing on X (formerly Twitter): "Let Billie Be Billie Folks!" While another commented: "I agree. Why is there such a need to formally come out? Who cares. Let her be."
The red-carpet moment followed an interview with Billie for the cover story of Variety’s Power of Women issue. Talking about her relationship with femininity and her feelings towards other women, Billie said: "I’ve never really felt like I could relate to girls very well. I love them so much. I love them as people. I’m attracted to them as people. I’m attracted to them for real."
The singer, who has previously said she's attracted to men and women, went on to say: "I have deep connections with women in my life, the friends in my life, the family in my life. I’m physically attracted to them. But I’m also so intimidated by them and their beauty and their presence."
While the conversation between Billie and the reporter asking about her sexuality looked friendly enough, it would appear on reflection that the singer was less than pleased with the response to the interview.
Billie wrote on Instagram: "Thanks Variety for my award and also outing me on a red carpet at 11am instead of talking to me about anything else that matters. I like boys and girls leave me alone about it please literally who cares."
The message in Billie's Instagram post resonated with fans and has already garnered over 3 million likes, with Billie's supporters commenting in their droves on the line of questioning. "Yeah can we just let queer people live pls," wrote one of Billie's followers.
While another said: "I am so proud of you for how you handled this. God DAMN can people just let this girl LIVE!!!????"
In the Variety interview, Billie also opened up about insecurities over her body image. She said: "I didn’t want people to have access to my body, even visually. I wasn’t strong enough and secure enough to show it. If I had shown it at that time, I would have been completely devastated if people had said anything. Maybe my not really caring about being sexualised is because I’ve never felt desired or desirable. I’ve never felt like a woman, to be honest with you.
"I’ve never felt desirable. I’ve never felt feminine. I have to convince myself that I’m, like, a pretty girl. I identify as ‘she/her’ and things like that, but I’ve never really felt like a girl."
