Billie Eilish says enthusiastic fans sometimes make her 'forget what's not polite' in Vanity Fair cover story

Billie Eilish became a viral sensation in November 2015 when her brother uploaded her debut song, "Ocean Eyes," to Soundcloud. She went on to sweep the 2020 Grammys when she won Best New Artist, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album.

As Billie’s success continues to grow, so does her fanbase, and she spoke with Vanity Fair about setting boundaries with her fans during her cover story interview for their March 2021 issue. The “bad guy” singer said that her fans’ devotion “makes you kind of crazy.”

“We all know the feeling of seeing yourself and being like, What is going on with me, I’m acting insane. When you’re excited about something, you forget boundaries, and you forget what’s polite and what’s kind of not polite,” she explained.  “I’ve had a lot of weird situations—people will kiss me and pick me up, spin me around.”

The 19-year-old singer said for meet-and-greets (remember when that was a thing pre-COVID?), her team had to start briefing her fans in line about how to behave when they get close to her. “It is definitely important to have the boundaries and also have people around you that can help in a situation like that,” the “Ocean Eyes” singer said. “I never want to push away somebody that’s showing me only love. And even if it’s coming from a place of crazy love, I don’t ever want to push that too far away.”

Billie describes herself as “a fan type person” and explained that it helps her connect with her fans because she understands them so well. Fans will get to see more of Billie because her forthcoming Apple TV+ Documentary Billie Eilish: The Word’s a Little Blurry, will give them a deeper look at her life when it's released on February 26.

“Billie is a member of the unique moment in history,” said R.J. Cutler, who directs the doc, “where perhaps every second of her life has been recorded in some form or another.” Cutler had been immediately drawn to the project with Billie. “Those stories of teenage life are so interesting to me. It’s such a fascinating time of life, where you were both child and adult; one foot in childhood, one foot in adulthood,” Cutler explained, “and especially for somebody who’s going through what Billie was going through and who was such a remarkable talent.”

“I just have always loved cameras,” Billie said of her excitement for the doc, “and I loved being on camera, and I’ve always loved watching videos of myself, since I was a little kid. I remember being 10 and being like, ‘Mom, can I watch home movies?’” Billie’s mom revealed that the “everything I wanted” singer took her first steps towards her video camera because she wanted to see the footage her mom filmed. She took a few steps back with the camera and Billie walked right up to her. 

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The Grammy-winning singer also opened up to the publication about those paparazzi shots that made their rounds online in October. She was wearing a tank top as she got out of her car to head into her brother’s house. The images received a lot of attention from body shamers and trolls online but the people around her were more concerned about how it made the singer feel.

“I think that the people around me were more worried about it than I was, because the reason I used to cut myself was because of my body. To be quite honest with you, I only started wearing baggy clothes because of my body,” Billie shared. “I was really, really glad though, mainly, that I’m in this place in my life, because if that had happened three years ago, when I was in the midst of my horrible body relationship—or dancing a ton, five years ago, I wasn’t really eating. I was, like, starving myself. I remember taking a pill that told me that it would make me lose weight and it only made me pee the bed—when I was 12. It’s just crazy. I can’t even believe, like I—wow. Yeah. I thought that I would be the only one dealing with my hatred for my body, but I guess the internet also hates my body. So that’s great.” Billie added that the internet “hates women.”

Billie revealed that, like the rest of us in quarantine, she gets excited about ordering things online. But the singer ran into a bit of a problem. “I don’t know what things cost because I’ve never been an adult before,” she said. “And, you know, I grew up with no money.” She said that she’s in a bizarre position, and she feels “kind of stupid” because she doesn’t know how much Froot Loops cost. “I tried to order one box of Froot Loops, and I was like, Oh yeah, sure. It’s $35. I didn’t know that that’s expensive,” she said. “I ordered 70 boxes.” That is a very expensive order for cereal.

Billie also shared that the music she’s working on now “feels exactly how I want it to.” She continued, “There isn’t one song, or one part of one song, that I wish was this or that I wish it was that.” Until we get a new album, keep streaming her new collab with Rosalía “Lo Vas A Olvidar.”

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