Racist, or just proud of her ancestry? Those are the questions netizens are asking after a clip of Billie Eilish speaking to a crowd in Ireland has gone viral.
The singer was performing in Dublin when she made the statement.
But what she said is being interpreted in various ways, with some people saying she is about to be in a lot of trouble.
Billie Eilish took a moment to thank the crowd of Irish people
Image credits: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
Image credits: lucie.loire
On the last leg of her U.K. and European Hit Me Hard and Soft world tour, Eilish played two sold-out shows in Dublin, Ireland.
In a moment of reflection during the show on July 26th, the 22-year-old expressed how delighted she was to be there.
The pop star told the crowd that she appreciated being in the land of her ancestors.
Image credits: lucie.loire
“Well, as you guys know, I’m Irish,” she said as the crowd erupted in applause and cheers.
“I’m not from here, obvi-duh, but it’s really cool to come somewhere and everybody looks exactly like you,” Eilish told the crowd.
Then she added an important caveat.
“You’re just as pasty as me”: Eliish talks about having Irish ancestry
Image credits: Anna Church/Unsplash
Eilish told the crowd: “You’re all just as pasty as me. I love it,” seemingly to imply that the reason she loved Ireland was because everyone had pale skin like hers.
She continued, “It just makes me feel so seen. Also, a thousand of my relatives are in the crowd right now, I’m pretty sure.”
She called the crowd “so beautiful” and thanked them for their hospitality.
“I love it here – it’s so beautiful and you are all so beautiful and I see so many familiar faces out there.”
“Imagine P.Diddy saying that in Detroit”: Netizens call foul on Eliish’s statement
Image credits: lucie.loire.
The motive and meaning of Eilish’s statement are now being rapidly dissected online.
The most accusatory claims are that her comment was racist or praising white people.
“Her filter dropped for a moment and her true thoughts came out,” said one poster.
Another said that “even the most avid lefty will admit innately that it’s great to be around your own kind,” implying Eilish was hiding her racism.
Others expect Eilish will soon offer a mea culpa: “I expect a tear-filled, woke, BS apology momentarily…LOL”
Image credits: billieeilish
Some people claimed that online reactions would be different if a brown or black singer had made the statement.
“Now if Beyoncé went on stage and said something like that, it wouldn’t be a problem at all,” one person said.
“Imagine P.Diddy saying that in Detroit…” another chimed in.
Still another said: “And yet other people can literally sing ‘they not like us’, referring to Kendrick Lamar’s hit song.
Kendrick Lamar has also been accused of being racist in his song Not Like Us
Image credits: bringmethedemi
As is usually the case with hot-button race-related topics, Eilish’s statement is reopening the public debate about what it means to be proud of one’s heritage.
At the height of Kendrick Lamar’s public beef with fellow rapper Drake, who is of mixed ethnicity, some people criticized Lamar’s seeming insistence that his heritage as an African American was somehow more credible than Drake’s.
Journalist Thomas Chatterton Williams described the meaning behind Lamar’s song as “implying that racial categories are real, that behaviors and circumstances (like Drake’s suburban upbringing) correlate with race, and that the very mixedness of Drake’s background renders him suspect.”
@lucie.loire 🥹 #billieeilish #billie #billieeilishdublin #dublin #billieshow @BILLIE EILISH ♬ son original – lucie
He called Lamar’s song “an anachronistic line of ad hominem attack that is depressing to encounter a quarter of the way into the 21st century.”
Seeking to smooth out the perception that the song was a racist attack, Lamar discussed it openly during an interview with Harper’s Bazaar in October of last year.
Speaking to singer/songwriter Sza, Lamar said: “Not Like Us is the energy of who I am, the type of man I represent.”
Lamar said that this hypothetical “man” can “recognize his mistakes and not be afraid to share them and can dig deep down into fear-based ideologies or experiences to express them without feeling like he’s less of a man.”
“If I’m thinking of Not Like Us, I’m thinking of me and whoever identifies with that,” he concluded.
The questions were part of a larger, heartfelt discussion between the two artists on the topic of mental health, masculinity, and what it takes to remain authentic in the music industry.
Another controversy surrounding Eilish is that she’s a nepo-baby
Image credits: _boyscrytoo
Questions may persist about the meaning behind Billie Eilish’s latest words.
But it’s not the first time she’s been at the center of controversy.
In 2024, a clip from the 1990s TV series Friends resurfaced showing Billie Eilish’s mother playing a small role.
When netizens learned that Eilish’s mother was a working actor, whispers of “nepo-baby” began circulating.
Image credits: Amy Sussman/WireImage
Addressing the topic in an interview with Glamour later that year, Eilish’s mother Maggie Baird said:
“My husband and I are working-class actors. We eked out a meager living, and it afforded us a lot of time with our kids, which was awesome,” she said, continuing that they had no idea what real stardom was until their children, Billie and her brother and composer Finneas became A-listers.
Then, in March of this year, a Billie Eilish look-alike made headlines for appearing at a mall in California.
Image credits: billieeilish
It’s become a popular trend for celebrity impersonators to dress up as their favorite star, then walk around in public surrounded by an entourage who are dressed to resemble bodyguards.
At the time, Eilish put out a statement on her social media page telling people to “please stop” because it’s not safe and was “making me look bad.”
Netizens question the meaning and motive of Billie Eilish’s comments during her show in Dublin recently
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