Earlier this month, Billie Eilish shared "everything i wanted". On the song, the 17-year-old grapples with her recently-acquired fame. “’Cause everybody wants something from me now... and I don’t want to let them down,” she sings. She imagines jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge and all the people watching her having no inclination to save her. Despite her dazzling breakout year - which culminated in her being nominated for six Grammys this week - "everything i wanted" paints a grim picture of the expectations that come with stardom.
You could get a good idea of the bullshit Eilish deals with from the video of her being booed by paparazzi this week. While leaving the set of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday, Eilish was greeted by a massive crowd of people waiting behind barricades. In a chaotic video, she is seen running up to some of fans to quickly give hugs and take selfies before she keeps it moving. People are heard shouting for her attention, guilting her by mentioning how long they'd been waiting outside. As she walks away from the mob, people start to let out boos and launch insults at her. One person taunts her that she won't win any of her Grammy nominations and another claims that Lorde would have never neglected the crowd like Eilish did.
Eilish must have been unsettled by this incident because she took to IG Live afterwards to address it. She explained how she approached a section of the group, only to discover that they were paparazzi trying to take pictures and e-Bayers trying to get autographs to sell. According to BuzzFeed, she said: "The only reason I'm making this video is that I saw a video of this all happening and I just wanted to clarify what actually happened... I walked over there only to say hi, only to hug people, and I got pictures of me shoved into my fucking face. I got no love whatsoever, so I left."
She expressed amazement at how jarringly people's true intentions can be revealed. "The fact that people can switch up like that... damn. They wait outside for you and then immediately they don't get what they want and they boo you, and fucking curse at you. I'm like 'Bro, I'm 17.'" She ended the IG session by shouting out her attackers. "To the grown men that booed me and called me a 'little bitch,' I hope the best for you. I hope you cna find someone else that you use to make money off of and belittle."
