Billie Eilish Releases Statement on Video Containing Anti-Asian Slur
The singer took to Instagram Stories to address the resurfaced clip.
Billie Eilish has addressed a video that shows the singer mouthing an anti-Asian slur. The clip, which resurfaced last week and has been circulating on social media, also appears to show the Grammy-winning artist mocking an Asian accent.
Eilish posted an apology to Instagram Stories, explaining that the epithet was used in a song that she was mouthing the words to. The singer, 19, also alleged that she was 13 or 14-years-old when the video was taken. “I am appalled and embarrassed and want to barf that I ever mouthed along to that word. This song was the only time I’d ever heard that word as it was never used around me by anyone in my family,” she wrote. Eilish also addressed the clip that shows her seemingly imitating an Asian accent: “The other video in that edited clip is me speaking in a silly gibberish made up voice…something I started doing as a kid and have done my whole life when talking to my pets, friends, and family.”
Earlier this month, Eilish was accused of “queerbaiting” — a marketing ploy in which a celebrity, TV show or movie attempts to appeal to the LGBTQ+ community by hinting at queerness — with an Instagram post captioned “I love girls.”
Head to Billie Eilish’s Instagram to read her full statement on the resurfaced videos.
