A video alleging that Billie Eilish used a racial slur has gone viral

Old footage of Billie Eilish has surfaced in a kind of TikTok compilation clip that appears to show the singer using an anti-Asian slur and imitating various accents in a derisive, insensitive, and mocking way.

The clip, posted this past Monday, has since gone viral and sparked an online debate about the 19-year-old singer’s behaviour as well as the accuracy and veracity of the claims being made by the TikTok user who posted the (admittedly low quality and difficult to follow) video.

In a series of quick cuts, the video appears to show Eilish singing along with a selection of songs and mouthing (or saying) a hateful slur aimed at Asian communities in a song by Tyler The Creator. It then shows her speaking in what the video's creator calls a “blaccent” accusing Billie of adopting a way of speaking that is unnatural to her and appropriative.

Finally, the clip cuts to Eilish speaking quickly and unintelligibly, which the poster says is her imitating an Asian language. The video is accompanied by the hashtag #billieeilishcancelled.

So far, the clip has been viewed over a million times, with fans and critics alike weighing in to voice their thoughts on Eilish’s behaviour. The opinions are wide-ranging, with some commenters questioning the editing and accusing the clip’s creator of removing the original context and supplying her own in the form of text she’s added to the video.

Other fans are understandably hurt and upset that Eilish may have exhibited this kind of racist behaviour — a hurt that is all too understandable, especially amid the frightening uptick in anti-Asian hate crimes being committed across North America.

To make the situation even more problematic, old racist and homophobic tweets by Eilish’s boyfriend, Matthew Vorce, were unearthed just yesterday. The tweets are from a period between 2011 and 2017.

Yet other fans are excusing Eilish for the clips, saying that the footage was filmed when she was 14 and had yet to grasp the seriousness and hurtfulness of what she was saying. Some even attributed the way she acts on camera to her Tourette’s Syndrome (although, as Billboard pointed out in 2018, Eilish’s Tourette’s tics are physical, not verbal).

Perhaps, considering the questionable quality of the video, the most reasonable way to proceed is to wait for Eilish herself to address the content — which is what many of the TIkTok and Twitter commenters are asking for her to do.

Hopefully, the pop star will come forward with comments ASAP, so that hurt fans can hear what she has to say about the clips and receive an apology where one is warranted. 

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