Billie Eilish apologised on her Instagram story on Tuesday after an old edited video of the singer uttering a racist slur surfaced on TikTok last week. Eilish is apparently heard ridiculing accents in the video, and she is also shown singing along to a song (Tyler the Creator's 2011 song "Fish") that contains a racial slur.
Following online accusations of racism and calls for the show to be cancelled, Eilish sought to salvage the situation by posting an apology on her Instagram story.
The singer further explained that she was not imitating any accent, language or culture. She wrote, “The other video in that edited clip is me speaking in a silly gibberish made up voice… something I started doing as a kid and have done my whole life when talking to my pets, friends, and family. It is absolute gibberish and just me goofing around, and is in NO way an imitation of anyone or any language, accent or culture in the SLIGHTEST. Anyone who knows me has seen me goofing around with voices my whole life.”
Billie Eilish continued, "I've always tried to use my platform to fight for inclusion, kindness, tolerance, and equality.” She said, “Regardless of how it was interpreted I did not mean for any of my actions to have caused hurt to others and it absolutely breaks my heart that it is being labeled now in a way that might cause pain to people hearing it. I not only believe in, but have always worked hard to use my platform to fight for inclusion, kindness, tolerance, equity and equality.”
She concluded, “We all need to continue having conversations, listening and learning. I hear you and I love you. Thank you for taking the time to read this.”