Over the weekend, Billie Eilish was among the honourees at Variety's Hitmakers awards for her contribution to the Barbie soundtrack, "What Was I Made For?" — however, the pop star seemingly wasn't too stoked on the way the event transpired, as she has since sarcastically thanked the publication for her award and accused them of "outing her on the red carpet at 11 a.m. instead of talking about anything else that matters" in an Instagram post.
The red carpet in question saw Eilish asked about "coming out" in her recent Variety cover story. In the profile, she had told journalist Katcy Stephan, "I've never really felt like I could relate to girls very well. I love them so much. I love them as people. I'm attracted to them as people. I'm attracted to them for real."
Eilish continued, "I have deep connections with women in my life, the friends in my life, the family in my life. I'm physically attracted to them. But I'm also so intimidated by them and their beauty and their presence."
At the Hitmakers event, the pop star was asked if she had meant to come out as sexually attracted to women in the story. "No, I didn't," Eilish said, "But I kind of thought — wasn't it obvious?"
"I didn't realize people didn't know," she added, claiming that she doesn't really "believe in" coming out. "I'm just like, why can't we just exist? I've been doing this for a long time and I just didn't talk about it. Whoops."
In response to the cover story (and the countless news spin-offs it provoked), Eilish said, "I saw all the articles and I was like, 'Oh, I guess I came out today?'" The artist added, "It's exciting to me because, you know, I guess people didn't know, so it's cool that they know," admitting that she was getting nervous talking about it.
The red carpet in question saw Eilish asked about "coming out" in her recent Variety cover story. In the profile, she had told journalist Katcy Stephan, "I've never really felt like I could relate to girls very well. I love them so much. I love them as people. I'm attracted to them as people. I'm attracted to them for real."
Eilish continued, "I have deep connections with women in my life, the friends in my life, the family in my life. I'm physically attracted to them. But I'm also so intimidated by them and their beauty and their presence."
At the Hitmakers event, the pop star was asked if she had meant to come out as sexually attracted to women in the story. "No, I didn't," Eilish said, "But I kind of thought — wasn't it obvious?"
"I didn't realize people didn't know," she added, claiming that she doesn't really "believe in" coming out. "I'm just like, why can't we just exist? I've been doing this for a long time and I just didn't talk about it. Whoops."
In response to the cover story (and the countless news spin-offs it provoked), Eilish said, "I saw all the articles and I was like, 'Oh, I guess I came out today?'" The artist added, "It's exciting to me because, you know, I guess people didn't know, so it's cool that they know," admitting that she was getting nervous talking about it.
"I like boys and girls leave me alone about it please literally who cares," Eilish wrote in her Instagram post following the event.
While it's true that probes about her sexuality are uncalled for and that no ones should feel the need to "come out" publicly, the pop star was speaking on the record — both on the red carpet, where she admittedly looked uncomfortable by the line of questioning, and during the original Variety interview — so "outing" is a strong accusation. But Eilish's point seems to be that she is far more interesting than questions about who she's attracted to do justice, and that's very valid.
