Pop singer and multi-Grammy winner Billie Eilish is known for her sad girl ballads and breathy indie vocals but that's not why she's in the news this week. In a recent interview with Variety, the starlet may or may not have outed herself.
It's unclear what actually happened, if she is out or not but the clip of Eilish on the Variety red carpet has gone viral on social media. The responses to the video show that there's plenty of confusion surrounding Eilish's comment about her sexuality and also her follow-up response in a fiery social media post afterward. This has sparked discourse about why her fans and people, in general, might care about her sexuality at all.
This same kind of hyper-fixation on a female celebrity's sexuality has made news in the past like the debate surrounding Taylor Swift's sexuality (some super fans who theorize about her sexuality call her Gaylor). Even other young stars like Olivia Rodrigo who was recently speculated as queer because of her song "Lacy" has experienced this intrusive behavior. Also, while former Fifth Harmony singer Lauren Jauregui is now an out bisexual woman, she said Perez Hilton outed her by posting a private picture of her kissing a girl. But she also said that she was traumatized when fans theorized she was in a relationship with band member Camila Cabello. "It really f**ked with my head because I wasn't even comfortable telling my parents about [her sexuality]. I wasn't even comfortable telling myself that I was queer."
Eilish is just another young celebrity who has been ripped apart by the media and fans about her sexuality. As early as 16, in the early days of her career, Eilish had been put under a microscope over a myriad of issues mainly over her body image and dating life. Eilish shut her critics up by wearing baggier and less revealing clothes. But after that, the criticism went from being about her body to her sexuality. Her sexuality has been endlessly speculated about for years even though Eilish refrained from labeling herself. But that doesn't stop people from wanting her to be queer — or some who do not.
Here's a look back at the history of Billie Eilish's image, the fixation on her sexuality, what happened with Variety and the fallout.
November 2016: Billie Eilish launches her career with her hit "Ocean Eyes"
The teenager skyrocketed into success at age 14 with her first major single "Ocean Eyes," which earned over a billion streams on Spotify, and so a star was born. From the beginning of her career, the singer had been dressing in that same, loose-fitting street style she's known for.
Her "Ocean Eyes" music video similarly does not focus on her body. It uses close-up shots of her in an oversized black t-shirt and never varies.
August 2017: Billie Eilish's First EP "Don't Smile at Me" comes out
The singer's first EP propelled her further, gaining even more attention. Here is where Eilish's style begins to evolve. As she was growing increasingly visible in the pop culture and music scene, people online began to sexualize her as young as 15.
As a minor, Eilish tried to squelch the discourse surrounding the over-sexualization of her body by dressing in oversized, baggy and androgynous clothes.
2017 and 2018: Billie Eilish doesn't have a boyfriend
In two successive interviews conducted with Vanity Fair a year apart, the singer reveals that she doesn't have a boyfriend, saying, "I could not have a boyfriend that would just be mean to him," and showing a general distrust of dating. "I hate things that are exclusive, never. Letting myself be mistreated for a long long long long time."
March 2019: "Wish You Were Gay" controversy
With the release of her new studio album "When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?," Grammy wins and mega-hits like "Bad Guy," Eilish had never been more mainstream. She had a few years of fame under her belt before she had any real controversy surrounding her success. But she was questioned for her song "Wish You Were Gay."
The song's lyrics explain a situation where Eilish is trying to get her love interest to pay attention to her.
She sings:
How am I supposed to make you feel OK
When all you do is walk the other way?
I can't tell you how much I wish I didn't wanna stay
I just kinda wish you were gayTo spare my pride
To give your lack of interest, an explanation
Don't say I'm not your type
Just say that I'm not your preferred sexual orientation
I'm so selfish
However, LGBTQ+ fans criticized the song as a form of queerbaiting and fetishizing a gay man while Eilish uses them as a tool to get a guy she likes.
Eilish responded, "First off, I want to be so clear that it’s so not supposed to be an insult. I feel like it’s been a little bit misinterpreted. I tried so hard to not make it in any way offensive."
She continued, "The whole idea of the song is, it’s kind of a joke. It’s kind of like 'I’m an a**, and you don’t love me. And you don’t love me because you don’t love me, and that’s the only reason, and I wish you didn’t love me because you didn’t love girls.''
June 2021: Eilish embraces showing her skin and curves
When the singer turned 19, she threw away the baggy clothes for a new look. On a British British Vogue cover, she dressed in a pink blush corset and bustier, which earned her criticism for the more body-conscious attire. In the interview, she address the about-face after she was previously hailed a body positivity queen for her baggy style.
"Suddenly you’re a hypocrite if you want to show your skin, and you’re easy and you’re a slut and you’re a whore. If I am, then I’m proud. Me and all the girls are hoes, and f**k it, y’know? Let’s turn it around and be empowered in that. Showing your body and showing your skin – or not – should not take any respect away from you," she said.
June 2021: Accusations of queerbaiting
After the controversy with "Wish You Were Gay," Eilish did not back down. In the sensual music video for "Lost Cause," Eilish and her cast of music video models — who are all women — are in loungewear in a mansion having a fun time with each other. There are different scenes where the group of girls are gently touching each other or just unabashedly twerking together — getting into some fun in a beautiful mansion.
But because of the internet's fascination with Eilish's every move, the video sparked discourse, with fans and people all calling the singer a queerbaiter because she posted photos of the video to her Instagram with the caption, “I love girls.” In an interview with Elle, she said she was tired of people speculating about her body, relationships and "my sexuality! Like, oh yeah, that's everyone else's business, right? No. Where's that energy with men?"
November 2023: Eilish talks body shaming and seemingly comes out in Variety interview
As awards season is in full swing, Eilish is doing press for her "Barbie" movie soundtrack hit "What Was I Made For?" In a Variety interview for the Power of Women issue, she first addressed the meaning of the song's music video, which she directed.
In it, the singer is attired in a retro '60-style yellow knee-length dress. With her high blonde ponytail, she appears to have Barbie-fied herself. As she sits at the table, she unpacks what appears to be Barbie-sized clothing, but are actually miniature versions of the clothing she's usually known for: baggy oversized ensembles, tracksuits, full-coverage clothing with long sleeves.
“[I] didn’t want people to have access to my body, even visually,” she said. “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.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Eilish said that most of her life she hadn't felt close to women because she spent most of it afraid they didn't like her. She 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.
“I’m physically attracted to them. But I’m also so intimidated by them and their beauty and their presence,” she continued.
For as long as people had been speculating on Eilish's sexuality, her comments caught people off guard because it seemingly confirmed some of what people had been thinking. It was the first on-record confirmation that she was interested in women so it further sparked conversation about her sexuality.
December 2023: Variety red carpet interview and shady Instagram callout
On Saturday, Dec. 2, however, Eilish appeared at a Variety event for young industry hitmakers. On the red carpet, Eilish was asked by a reporter what her reaction was after women supported her Variety article. With a smile on her face, Eilish said, "I'm still scared of them but I think they're pretty." She laughed after the comment.
Then the reporter asked, "Did you mean to come out in the story?" And Billie confirmed lightheartedly, "No, I didn't. But I kinda thought . . . Wasn't it obvious? I didn't realize people didn't know. I just don't really believe in it. I'm just like 'Why can't we just exist?' I've been doing this for a long time, and I just didn't talk about it. Whoops."
She continued, "But I saw the article, and I was like, 'Oh I guess I came out today.' OK cool. It’s exciting to me because I guess people didn’t know, but it’s cool that they know." She added: "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/uDDbCk6tgp
— Variety (@Variety) December 2, 2023
A day later, it was reported that Eilish's Instagram follower account dropped significantly, from 110,300,420 followers she had in November, to Dec. 3, when she seems to have dropped to 110,200,603, according to Pink News. Could that 100k loss be the result of certain fans bailing after hearing her alleged coming out?
On Dec. 4, Eilish seems to have had a change of heart from that lighthearted red carpet interview, which gained major traction with fans and LGBTQ+ people who were ecstatic about her confirming her coming out. She then posted on Instagram that Variety had outed her.
"Thanks Variety for my award and for also outing me on a red carpet at 11 am instead of talking about anything else that matters. I like boys and girls leave me alone about it please literally who cares. Stream 'What Was I Made For,'" she said.
As of this report, Eilish posted twice more on Instagram but did not address her sexuality or Variety further.
