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Billie Eilish Claps Back After Taylor Swift Fans Think She Shaded the Singer: ‘It’s About All of Us’
Billie Eilish defended herself against hate from Taylor Swift fans after they accused her of throwing shade at the singer in a recent discussion about the “wastefulness” of artists releasing multiple variants of their vinyl records.
“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,” Billie, 22, wrote on her Instagram Stories on Sunday, March 31.
“I wasn’t singling anyone out, these are industry-wide systemic issues,” she added, referring to sustainability.
Billie admitted that “so many artists” release multiple versions of their records, including herself. “Which I clearly state in that 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.”
In her interview with Billboard, which was published on March 28, the “Bad Guy” hitmaker spoke out against the practice of releasing multiple variants of the same album in different packaging because of the negative impact it has on the environment.
“I can’t even express to you how wasteful it is,” she said. “It is right in front of our faces and people are just getting away with it left and right, and 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–king 40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more.”
Though Billie’s Happier Than Ever album in 2021 had eight variants, she made them more sustainable by using 100% recycled black vinyl and recycled scraps, as well as shrink wrap made out of sugarcane.
Billie 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–t.”
Billie didn’t name any specific artists, but many fans of Taylor, 34, took it as an indirect dig at the “Cruel Summer” singer, who is known for releasing multiple physical variants of her albums.
“The dig at Taylor and other similar artists about charts and numbers was unnecessary and detracts from her original point,” one fan tweeted in response to the interview. “Billie herself put out multiple vinyl variants (sustainably) so her point about chart and number obsession is hypocritical.”
“If you’re jealous of taylor’s ability to actually SELL just say so,” another fan wrote.
Many other artists have released multiple album variants, including Olivia Rodrigo, Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande, Beyoncé and more.
