Last week, Billie Eilish found herself at the center of public attention after her comments about "wasteful" artists went viral.
If you missed it, Billie, 22, sat down with Billboard for a sustainability-centered interview on March 28, during which she slammed artists who sell multiple vinyl variants of the same album.
For some quick context, Billie — who grew up in an eco-conscious household — has long encouraged sustainability. Not only has she collaborated with organizations focused on climate change, helping to eliminate carbon emissions created by the music industry in the process, but she has also worked with designer brands to create vegan alternatives to some of their most famous designs.
In her interview with Billboard, Billie was asked about her current efforts to make vinyl more sustainable. The reporter pointed out that her most recent studio album, Happier Than Ever (2021), came in eight different vinyl variants, which were made using 100% recycled vinyl and scraps.
Billie said, "We live in this day and age where, for some reason, it's very important to some artists to make all sorts of different vinyl and packaging… which ups the sales and ups the numbers and gets them more money."
The interviewer interjected and said, "Well, it counts toward No. 1 albums." Billie replied, "I can't even express how wasteful it is. It is right in front of our faces and people are just getting away with it left and right."
"I find it really frustrating as somebody who really goes out of my way to be sustainable and do the best that I can and try to involve everybody in my team in being sustainable — and then it's some of the biggest artists in the world making fucking 40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more," she said.
"It's so wasteful, and it's irritating to me that we're still at a point where you care that much about your numbers and you care that much about making money — and it's all your favorite artists doing that shit," she added.
Billie didn't name-drop anyone in the interview. However, several social media users immediately speculated that she was shading Taylor Swift, who has notably been criticized for selling multiple vinyl versions of her albums.
Last August, for example, Taylor was called out after releasing multiple vinyl versions of her 1989 album rerelease — each of which contained the same music, though came in different colors and featured a different image of the artist on the cover. The vinyls cost $31.89 a piece via Taylor's official store, and each incurred its own shipping cost.
A year prior, Taylor encouraged fans to buy multiple versions of the vinyl for her album Midnights, revealing that the back of all four jackets would create a clock. She also released various versions of the album, each featuring different bonus tracks.
Many other artists have released multiple vinyl variants too, including Olivia Rodrigo, Dua Lipa, and The Weeknd. However, several fans quickly linked Billie's remarks to Taylor and took to X to accuse her of throwing shade.
"wait a damn minute did she just shade t," one more post read.
But now, Billie has entered the conversation to clarify that she "wasn't singling anyone out" in her Billboard interview.
"i wasn't singling anyone out, these are industry-wide systemic issues," she went on. "& when it comes to variants, so many artists release them - including ME ! which i clearly state in the article. the climate crisis is now and its about all of us being part of the problem and trying to do better."
"sheesh," she added, including a link to the Billboard interview.