S Poddar
Charli XCX just released a remix with Billie Eilish to her track “Guess.” One week later, that collaboration is facing controversy after an outraged TikTok user labeled Eilish’s verse as “predatory”.
The drama first blew up on Friday, August 2, a day after the song and its music video dropped. An account called windows199x shared an Eilish verse, citing specifically, “I wanna try it, bite it, lick it, spit it / Pull it to the side and get all up in it / Kiss it, bite it, can I fit it? / Charli likes boys, but she knows I’d hit it / knows I’d hit it / Charli, call me if you’re with it.”
This user explained in the video that Eilish’s verse, to some, was predatory and particularly queerbaiting in nature. It cites the backlash she got in 2021 over her “Lost Cause” music video, which showed playful scenes with a group of girls at a sleepover. Further, the creator stated that Charli XCX is 32, engaged, and showed up to add fuel to their point.
Eilish’s brother, Finneas, jumped into the comments section to defend his sister. He ripped the accusations, calling out, “What a take you little clown. I got to watch the entire internet slam my sister for queerbaiting for an entire year when in reality, you were all forcing her to label and out herself.”
Eilish first expressed interest in women in an interview with Variety in 2023. After making those comments, when asked later if she was trying to come out, she said she was surprised people hadn’t already assumed. In a later interview, Eilish went on to accuse Variety of outing her.
Reflecting on the situation, Eilish went to her Instagram and vented her frustration, penning, “Thanks Variety for my award and for also outing me on a red carpet at 11 am instead of talking about anything else that matters. I like boys and girls; leave me alone about it, please. Literally, who cares? Stream ‘What Was I Made For.'”
Speaking later to Rolling Stone, Eilish acknowledged that she probably overreacted but did make a case for the whole public putting pressure on her to label her sexuality. “The whole world suddenly decided who I was, and I didn’t get to say anything or control any of it. Nobody should be pressured into being one thing or the other,” she says, highlighting that self-discovery can take a long time.
After all the red-carpet comments, Eilish responded by saying that she was literally repeating what had been said about her for years. “I know everybody’s been thinking this about me for years and years, but I’m only figuring out myself now,” she said.
