Taylor Swift playing bad to Billie Eilish?
On June 7, a source close to Billie Eilish confirmed on the Daily Mail that everyone in the American music industry clearly sees the fact that Taylor Swift is weaponizing her fans and that the young singer born in 2001 seems to be a victim. The latest victim in the campaign to depose.
“Whenever Taylor feels jealous of a peer’s success, she does all she can to ensure that her fans start vicious online campaigns to take down that person, without ever asking them to stop, while it all operated under the manipulation of America’s lover (a reference to Taylor),” the source said.
Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish had a close relationship before the fight broke out. Photo: Getty Images.
The above comments came after Taylor and Eilish both released new albums in the first months of 2024, causing a fierce battle for the top spot on the chart. In particular, Billie is said to be the focus of increasing attacks launched by Taylor fans online.
The Tortured Poets Department ( TTPD ), Taylor’s 11th studio album, has maintained the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s album chart since its release on April 19.
Some critics say the 1989-born singer maintains that position by periodically releasing variations and extended versions, in order to keep sales and streaming figures high. To date, Taylor has launched more than 20 variations of TTPD .
The fact that the Fortnight hitmaker released three of these special editions on the same day that Eilish released her new album Hit Me Hard and Soft in May is considered by many to be an attempt to trample on the competition. In fact, Taylor holds the number 1 position, while Eilish ranks 2nd on the Billboard chart.
Taylor’s fans argued that the timing was a coincidence, Taylor just wanted to keep her album at No. 1 for as long as possible, with no intention of offending anyone. However, Eilish’s supporters don’t think so.
Eilish’s manager, Danny Rukasin, re-shared a status line on X (Twitter) accusing Taylor Swift of doing everything to prevent other artists from shining. According to the post, in addition to Eilish, Taylor also did the same thing in the past to hinder artists like Katy Perry and SZA. Rukasin deleted the activity soon after, but it ignited the flames of hostility between the two factions.
Sources close to Eilish said the two-Oscar winner did not want a public rift and that she is currently the victim of unwarranted online attacks from Taylor Swift fans.
“Billie wants nothing to do with a ‘feud’. She doesn’t care about the scandal and she doesn’t do anything to incite it. At a time when Billie is doing so well, there is no reason for her to get involved in any kind of friction,” the insider emphasized.
Taylor Swift was accused of bringing down her juniors, while Billie Eilish repeatedly targeted her seniors. Photo: The Things.
However, what Eilish does shows the opposite. Back in March, Eilish publicly criticized some artists for being wasteful, creating dozens of different vinyl records to get fans to spend money.
Although the Gen Z music phenomenon claims not to target any specific individual, netizens quickly associated it with Taylor because she has 11 different vinyl albums sold on her own website. Many Swifties (Taylor’s fan community) have attacked the What Was I Made For? .
Not stopping there, in May, Eilish made a few more comments that were accused of touching her seniors. First, the young female singer criticized personal attack songs as disappointing (Taylor Swift is famous for many songs scolding ex-lovers, enemies, and old friends). Next, Eilish sarcastically criticized the artists performing in the 3-hour show for being mentally ill. Coincidentally, each show on Taylor’s Eras Tour took place during the same period of time.
The source of the feud
To find the source of the mess, we have to go back in time to January 2022, when Damon Albarn, frontman of the British rock band Blur, criticized Taylor Swift in an interview with the Los Angeles Times . The male singer born in 1968 bluntly stated that Taylor did not write her songs, or even co-write them, even though Taylor is famous for her ability to write music and lyrics.
Albarn then took the story in a more bizarre direction, comparing Taylor Swift’s music to Billie Eilish and her brother, Finneas O’Connell. Albarn commented that Eilish and her brother are “interesting musicians”, making him feel more attractive than Taylor.
Immediately, Albarn’s statement caused a backlash. The male singer was forced to apologize to Taylor Swift, and also accused the LA Times of editing his words.
Everything seemed to end there. However, in April 2022, Eilish made a sudden move that was likened to a slap in the face to Swift.
The Ocean Eyes hitmaker invited Albarn to her stage at Coachella a few months later, celebrating with her becoming the youngest artist in history at the most anticipated music festival of the year in America. While Eilish was praising Albarn and his influence on her music, an unidentified male voice rang out during the livestream: “We are being sued by Taylor Swift.”
Billie Eilish invited Damon Albarn to perform with her at Coachella after the British rocker criticized Taylor Swift. Photo: Getty Images.
At the time, Swifties believed that the owner of the voice was O’Connell, Eilish’s brother. The audience was confused as to whether they should consider it an intentional action aimed at Taylor by Eilish and O’Connell or not. Previously, O’Connell praised Swift’s inspirational songwriting ability and also attended the blonde beauty’s birthday in 2021.
However, things are easily turned upside down in the fiercely entertaining game. With a long list of songs about ex-lovers and enemies like Kim Kardashian or Kanye West, Taylor Swift is famous for being “vindictive”, especially when she feels her art is being disrespected. Eilish was also unhappy when she continuously made statements that were almost certainly about Taylor while promoting Hit Me Hard and Soft . Vox newspaper stated that the feud comes from both sides.