What’s the deal with all of the speculation of a feud between Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish? Rumors of the celebrity beef have been once again circulating on social media upon the news of Eilish surpassing Swift on Spotify as the female singer with the most monthly singers.
This is just one update to an ongoing back-and-forth between the singers vying for the Number 1 spot on the Billboard album chart since Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft released in May, just one month after Swift released her 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department.
Here are some key instances this year that have fueled perceptions of a potential feud between the two musicians:
1. Billie’s Billboard Interview (March 28)
Eilish discussed the environmental implications of artists releasing vinyls, saying “it’s some of the biggest artists in the world making f–ing 40 different vinyl packages that have a unique thing just to get you to keep buying more. It’s so wasteful.” Some speculated that she was referring to Taylor Swift’s recent vinyl release of TTPD.
2. Billie Responds to Speculation (March 31)
In an Instagram story, Eilish addressed the rumors of potential shade toward Swift, writing: “okay so it would be awesome if people would stop putting words into my mouth and actually read what i said in that billboard article. i wasn’t singling anyone out, these are industry-wide systemic issues. & when it comes to variants, so many artists release them–including ME! which i clearly state in the article. the climate crisis is now and its about all of us being part of the problem and trying to do better sheesh”.
3. More Instagram Story Posts (April 8)
Eilish announced her new album, Hit Me Hard and Soft on her close friends Instagram story. On the same day, Swift posted lyrics from The Tortured Poets Department on her Instagram story. While these posts were most likely unrelated, some speculated that Swift was trying to outshine Eilish’s announcement.
4. Eilish’s Manager, Danny Rukasin, Likes Shady Tweet Upon Swift’s Album Release (April 19)
On the same day as the release of The Tortured Poets Department, Rukasin likes a tweet that reads “the carbon emissions department: the most fraudulent release in history.”
5. Billie Eilish Makes a Comment Interpreted as More Shade (May 23)
Live on StationHead, Billie was asked if she was going to perform every song from her new album at her next concert. Eilish said, “I’m not doing a three-hour show. Nobody wants that. You guys don’t want that. I don’t want that.” This caused an influx of social media posts about Eilish shading Swift, whose Eras Tour performances are around three hours. However, Eilish did not mention Swift by name in this comment, and had previously praised Taylor Swift and Beyoncé in an LA Times story for executing long concerts with many “incredible moments.”
For those convinced that the two stars are at war, the accumulation of these events can be interpreted as evidence for a rivalry. It’s important to ask, though: is this really beef, or is this perceived fued being fueled by social media conjecture?
Both women are musical powerhouses in their own right. Swift captured our attention in her debut album Taylor Swift, and has taken us through her authentic experience with girlhood and womanhood through her ten studio albums since. Eilish first gained public attention with her single “Ocean Eyes” and has since released three studio albums that reeled in more and more listeners. Her most recent album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, has elevated her status as a queer pop girlie. The two share an overlap in their fan bases, but their music styles are different and not comparable.
This “feud” seems to be a symptom of an underlying issue not necessarily specific to the two pop stars, which is the parasocial nature of superfans (stans) of all artists. This expectation for public figures to address every perceived slight perpetuates issues that may not even exist. In reality, there is no direct evidence of the two going after each other – the “timeline” of drama is simply an agglomeration of instances that aren’t verified to be direct hits.
Sure, Eilish and Swift are contending for the top Billboard spot – both women are talented icons, and the music industry is competitive by nature. But aside from professional competition (which exists between all artists, by the way), there is no proof that suggests a personal conflict between the two. Instead of pitting two female artists against one another, we should celebrate both of their successes. Let’s be Team Billie and Team Taylor, and let them both shine.
What's Your Reaction?
