"People are scared of big boobs."
That's the Billie Eilish quote breaking the internet today after the star opened up to Elle Magazine about her own personal body image.
She also told Elle about her rumored feud with Olivia Rodrigo, her new album's epic release party, and even how she hates that her peers get work done and deny it ("Just don’t lie about 'Oh yeah, that’s just naturally how it looks'...")- but it's the 'boob' comment that got the most people talking.
Here's exactly what Billie had to say about her experience going from looking young to looking grown in the public eye.
The Tomato Can Picture
This is the post that inspired Billie Eilish's now-infamous 'boob' comment. She shared it on July 11, 2021, about two months after that Vogue magazine cover that marked the end of her oversized goth/skater style era.
By this time people were getting used to Billie wearing fewer oversized pieces of clothing, but she says many of them felt this particular set of photos went too far. They show her posing in a corset with a tomato can pattern and lace peeking out over the top. The caption? "Yes, i know."
Fans Unfollowed
“I lost 100,000 followers, just because of the boobs," Billie says in the interview, and then the iconic statement "People are scared of big boobs."
She told Elle that even though it sucks to lose fans and get negative comments about her new look, she tries her best not to let it "hurt her soul." Basically: she understands where those folks are coming from. In her view, the hate that her more mature transformation got was kind of proof that fans really did love her old look.
"People hold on to these memories and have an attachment," she explains. "But it’s very dehumanizing...I’m still the same person. I’m not just different Barbies with different heads."
Billie Finds It Unfair
Even though she can sympathize with fans who miss the 'old her,' Billie isn't cool with the intense level of judgement and scrutiny she gets just for wearing different tops.
"You’re not even supposed to really know who you are until you’re at least my age or older," she continued. "I had no goal of 'This is going to make everybody think differently of me.'"
She says she even struggles to wear some comfortable items of clothing just because of their perceived connotations.
"The other day, I decided to wear a tank top," she shares with Elle. "It wasn’t even a provocative shirt. But I know people are going to say, 'Holy f**k, she’s dressing sexy and trying to make a statement.'"
Is she trying to get attention for her body, like so many trolls suggest?
"No, I’m not," she adds. "It’s 500 degrees and I just want to wear a tank top."