In an old video that recently surfaced on social media, Eilish sings along to a lyric by rapper Tyler The Creator, which contains a swear word for Asian people. Eilish apologized on her own Instagram.
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The edited video has been circulating on the social media platform Tiktok for a while. The footage shows a young Billie Eilish singing along to American rapper Tyler the Creator’s song “Fish” from his album Goblin from 2011. In the lyrics, the rapper uses a racist word for people of Asian origin. In another part of the video, Eilish speaks in a different, thinner voice. Many now interpret that as an imitation of an accent. The pop star denies that.
The 19-year-old himself posted an apology to her yesterday Instagram in which she says she is ashamed of the images. Eilish reminds her followers that she was thirteen or fourteen when the images were taken, and that she did not understand the connotation of the text. “It was the first time I heard the word, nobody around me has ever used it,” Eilish said. At the same time, the singer shows understanding for the reactions. “My youthful ignorance should not excuse the fact that this is a hurtful video. I’m really sorry about that.’
She denies that she would imitate a specific accent. ‘Anyone who knows me knows that I am constantly casting voices, against friends and family. This is by no means intended to imitate any language, accent or culture.” The singer calls it gibberish.
Interpretation aside, Eilish never intended to hurt others, and she regrets that it may now hurt others even more.
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