Billie Eilish has received backlash for suggesting men don’t get criticized for their appearances. Many commenters called her out for overlooking male body-shaming.
The 21-year-old singer was interviewed as part of Variety’s “Power of Women” issue. Eilish reflected on the media attention and scrutiny she received after wearing a tank top in public aged 16, and went on to describe how she felt men were viewed in contrast.
“Nobody ever says a thing about men’s bodies,” Eilish told Variety. “If you’re muscular, cool. If you’re not, cool. If you’re rail thin, cool. If you have a dad bod, cool. If you’re pudgy, love it! Everybody’s happy with it. You know why? Because girls are nice. They don’t give a fuck because we see people for who they are!”
On November 13, entertainment news account Pop Base shared Eilish’s remarks in a post to X, formerly Twitter, which received 36 million views and over 9,100 comments. While some people came out in support of the singer and seemed to agree with her stance, many hit back at her comments.
One user called Eilish’s comments “a little tone deaf” as they felt both men and women could be judged, while others commented that women were more likely to receive criticism, but it was still false to suggest that men didn’t receive any.
Some pointed to the physical traits they felt men were particularly judged on, including their height, body shape, and general appearance, although also expressed the view that scrutiny of female bodies is typically more intense and widespread.
Multiple X users referenced a community note they said had been added to Pop Base’s post, although no such note is currently visible. Community notes are an X feature that allows users to add context to a post which will be shown publicly if enough contributors rate it as helpful.
Various users shared screenshots of what appears to be a community note on the post saying, “Billie Eilish has publicly criticized women dating ‘ugly men’ and has said that ugly men deserve nothing on recorded promotional interviews,” followed by a YouTube link.
This is likely a reference to a 2019 interview with Eilish available on Pitchfork’s YouTube channel.
“Why is every pretty girl with a horrible-looking man, I don’t understand,” she said during the interview.
“Listen, I’m not shaming people for their looks, but I am though. You give an ugly guy a chance, he thinks he rules the world,” she said. “I swear to god, because they got a hot girl, they can be horrible? Like, you’re still ugly though.”
She went on to reference the size of men’s genitals, suggesting it’s something they would have to “make up for.”
Many comments under the video posted over the four years it’s been uploaded called Eilish out for negatively commenting on other people’s looks, especially as she has been so public about those who criticized her appearance.
On X, many also mentioned the long history of objectification of Eilish, going back to her teenage years, suggesting her perception is understandable as a result.
Eilish has encouraged people to normalize “real bodies” in the past. She spoke out on this topic earlier this year and said it still hurt to see comments about her own body online, Insider previously reported.
Representatives for Billie Eilish did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.