Billie Eilish Opens Up on Being Body-Shamed Online: ‘It Still Hurts My Feelings’
Billie Eilish has come a long way with handling internet chatter about her appearance. But that doesn’t mean she’s immune to body-shaming now and just brushes it off, she told Vogue in a new interview. In fact, she can be a harsher critic on herself than the internet can be.
When asked if she cares about the commentary on her body, Eilish said, “Dude, I don’t even know. It’s tough, man. Honestly, nobody can say anything about my body that I don’t have a stronger opinion about […] I also think that if I was younger, like if the internet talked about me the way they do now when I was like 11, I don’t think I would be able to exist, to be honest. I like myself more than I used to, and I’m more interested in how I feel than how they feel. But then also that might be a load of bullshit because it still hurts my feelings like a sonabitch.”
Eilish also spoke to Vogue about her evolving style and how she is trying to embrace the power that can come with being hyper-feminine. “I’m trying to be more comfortable wearing makeup, like a lot of makeup,” Eilish said. “Obviously, I wear a little makeup all the time, but it’s just like, big faces of makeup…it’s something that I look up to, and I admire, and for me, I’m just like so scared of it.”
Ultimately, she’s making a point to let herself be everything for herself above all: “I’m allowed to be whatever I want to be when I want to be it,” she said. “I don’t need to always prove to everyone that I’m a tomboy. Like, that is what I am, but I also am this kind of girl. I’m also feminine, and I’m also sexy, and I’m also cute, and I’m also just like, none of the above, and I’m just me.”
Senior News and Strategy Editor
Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.