Celebrity

Billie Eilish Drama: Queerbaiting, Racism, And A New Boyfriend

Award winning singer Billie Eilish has been accused of queerbaiting, dating a homophobe, and saying an Asian slur by her fanbase.

Billie Eilish released her new song and music video “Lost Cause” via Instagram, which features herself and an all-girl cast dancing at a slumber party. A couple of days later, she posted behind the scenes pictures from the shoot. Her caption: “i love girls.”

Billie Eilish Instagram post captioned "i love girls," which was accused of queerbaiting
Photo: The Sun

Because of the suggestive caption and the timing (she posted it during Pride month, a popular time for members of the LGBTQ+ community to come out), her fans thought this was her way of coming out of the closet. The post got 12.8 million likes and thousands of supportive comments.

Two days later, though, she was seen with actor Matthew Tyler Vorce. The couple was seen holding hands on a VIP tour through Disneyland, according to The Sun. They were also photographed together getting coffee in April. Also, Vorce is 29 and Eilish is 19. 

Eilish and Vorce strolling through Disneyland together
Photo: The Sun

After learning about Eilish’s rumored boyfriend, internet sleuths on Twitter found multiple racist, sexist, and homophobic posts made by Vorce. In them, he used the F slur, the N word, called women “sluts,” and fat-shamed Adele.

After the backlash, Vorce apologized through a story posted on his private Instagram account according to Yahoo Entertainment. 

In it, he said, “I want to apologize for the things that I wrote on social media in the past. The language I used was hurtful and irresponsible and I understand how offensive those words are.”

Vorce's apology from his Instagram story
Photo: Yahoo Entertainment

After the pictures of them came out, Eilish’s fans were confused. Some even felt that Eilish was queerbaiting, which is when someone straight profits off of looking or acting gay.

And Eilish is not the only celebrity to get accusations of queerbaiting. Liza Koshy, a former Vine star, was accused of it when she posted something similar on Instagram. Harry Styles has been accused of it for his gender bending style and his refusal to label his sexuality.

Eilish has yet to comment on the drama. She has, however, spoken out about a video that went viral on TikTok last week. The video showed Eilish lip syncing an Asian slur, “using a blaccent,” and “mocking Asians.” Eilish quickly posted an apology to her Instagram story.

Eilish's apology
Photo: The New York Times

““i mouthed a word from a song that at the time i didn’t know was a derogatory term used against members of the asian community. i am appalled and embarrassed,” she said.

Cover photo Yahoo Entertainment

About author

Articles

Annie Burba is a sophomore at New York University studying journalism and psychology. She spends her spare time reading, scrolling through TikTok, and trying not to kill her plants.
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