Hot Topic
🔥 Full coverage and conversation on Taylor Swift
Kanye West has sparked controversy after publicly blasting Billie Eilish for a comment she made during one of her concerts last week.
If you missed it, Billie hastily stopped her show in Atlanta on Feb. 6 after realizing that a concertgoer was struggling to breathe in the crowd.
After quickly providing the fan with an inhaler, Billie said: “I wait for the people to be OK before I keep going.”
Like many fans, Kanye — who legally changed his name to Ye — quickly interpreted Billie’s comment as a dig at rapper Travis Scott, who’s been embroiled in controversy ever since crowd surges at his Astroworld Festival left 10 dead and hundreds injured in November.
Hot Topic
Think you’re Blondie’s biggest fan? Put your ~reputation~ to the test.
See our Taylor Swift Discussions
According to fan footage and several witness testimonies, Travis encouraged concertgoers to “rage” and participate in mosh pits during his self-produced and headlined set, which resulted in numerous people being crushed and trampled by one another in the crowd.
Sources close to Travis, as well as the rapper himself, have maintained that he was only aware of the severity of the situation “hours and hours after the concert,” in response to outrage over him continuing to play on while fans were being crushed in the crowd.
Travis — who’s denied all legal liability and insisted that the media has pushed blame onto him — has since been named in several lawsuits, many of which cite “negligence” and “encouragement of violence.”
In light of all this, many fans assumed that Billie’s recent remark was a pointed jab at the rapper, with a bunch tweeting about the apparent shade over the next few days.
Reposting an article headline that stated that Billie had “dissed” Travis, Ye voiced a strong message toward the 20-year-old singer on Thursday.
“Come on Billie we love you,” Ye began. “Please apologize to Trav and to the families of the people who lost their lives.”
“No one intended this to happen,” he wrote. “Trav didn’t have any idea of what was happening when he was on stage and was very hurt by what happened.”
Going on to reveal that he’d planned on bringing Travis out with him at Coachella, which he’s set to headline this April, Ye threatened to boycott the performance unless Billie apologized.
“And yes Trav will be with me at Coachella,” he wrote. “But now I need Billie to apologize before I perform.”
Ye's posts quickly went viral, with many fans of the rapper leaving critical comments about Billie and accusing her of starting "drama."
kanye west supporters encouraging his hatred for billie when she didn‘t do a thing except help a fan.
Seemingly unbothered, however, Billie quickly commented on the post herself to let Ye know that she “never said a thing” about Travis.
She wrote: “literally never said a thing about travis. was just helping a fan."
But although Billie didn’t seem fazed by Ye’s public appeal for an apology, many fans quickly took issue with his statement and jumped online to voice their thoughts.
Several Instagram users condemned Ye for publicly shaming the young singer, given that she “said nothing” about Travis directly.
“Perhaps you should take this down considering @billieeilish said nothing about Travis,” wrote one user.
“She doesn’t owe any one an apology for doing what was right during HER own concert WTF?” read another comment — which has received almost 50,000 likes.
“I’m sorry but she did not say anything wrong nor did she mention Travis by name. How can you turn her stopping the show to protect a fan’s health into a bad thing??” wrote one fan.
Other fans urged Ye to “delete” the post and to “grow up,” while maintaining that Billie was just trying to “watch after her fans.”
Meanwhile, the conversation around Ye’s comment continued to evolve on Twitter, with many fans quickly casting their minds back to his treatment of another successful young woman in the music industry: Taylor Swift.
As I’m sure you’re aware, Ye and Taylor’s infamous feud kicked off in 2009 at the MTV Video Music Awards, when they were age 32 and 19 respectively.
Taylor, who’d won her first VMA that night, was interrupted during her acceptance speech by Ye, who jumped on stage, cut her off, and declared that Beyoncé should have won the award instead.
Taylor and Ye actually resolved the dispute over the next few years and went on to form a public friendship. That is, until 2016, when Ye released his song, “Famous,” which included the lyric: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous.”
While Ye insisted that Taylor had known and approved of the lyric in advance, she insisted that she wasn’t aware of the line calling her “that bitch.”
The entire "he said, she said" debacle continued to escalate when Ye’s now-estranged wife, Kim Kardashian, got involved and uploaded a Snapchat video of a phone call between Ye and Taylor where they discussed the song. However, the call did not show the rapper telling Taylor about the specific line referring to her as "that bitch."
Aside from all this, however, it was Ye interrupting and inserting himself into Taylor’s acceptance speech — as well as name dropping her in "Famous" and including a wax work depicting her naked in the video for the song — that infuriated fans.
Now, drawing connections between Ye’s treatment of Taylor and his recent diss toward Billie, several users have expressed their dismay at the rapper for also putting Billie in an “unnecessary, uncomfortable position.”
Fans firstly highlighted Billie and Taylor’s “similar career trajectories,” while questioning Ye’s apparent “vendetta against successful young women.”
“damn taylor and billie really do have similar career trajectories like down to random beefs with kanye being started BY HIM,” read one tweet.
damn taylor and billie really do have similar career trajectories like down to random beefs with kanye being started BY HIM
“kanye hates successful women. first taylor and now billie, when will it end?” echoed another.
kanye hates successful women. first taylor and now billie, when will it end?
One fan maintained that even if Billie was shading Travis, “she doesn’t owe anyone an apology,” adding that Ye “goes after young [women] who are new in the industry.”
“kanye west has a vendetta against successful young women and its not spoken about enough,” another wrote.
kanye west has a vendetta against successful young women and its not spoken about enough
One user compared the two situations and suggested that Ye's latest comments about Billie proved he was "inserting himself on someone else's behalf again."
“Kanye [is] inserting himself on someone else's behalf again,” they tweeted. “Like when he stepped up to defend Beyoncé's honor against Taylor Swift and embarrassed her and ruined her night way more than losing the award.”
But fans particularly took issue with the age difference between Ye and the respective women he’s called out, noting that he was in his 30s when he first dragged Taylor, who was 19, and is now 44, while Billie is 20.
“Taylor Swift was [19] when Kanye West interrupted her acceptance speech thus kicking off Kanye bullying Taylor Swift for next decade. Billie Eilish is currently 20 & he’s moved on from Taylor to bullying Billie Eilish. What’s Kanye’s issue with 20 year old talented white women?” one user wrote.
“Just another GROWN ASS man trying to attack another FEMALE singer, first taylor swift now billie eilish? Pull your shit together,” wrote one.
Just another GROWN ASS man trying to attack another FEMALE singer, first taylor swift now billie eilish? Pull your shit together you has been🖕.
“first taylor then billie what obsession do you have with 19 year old female artists bro,” another tweeted.
first taylor then billie what obsession do you have with 19 year old female artists bro🎤🎤
“Kanye West really out here beefing with another 20 year old young female artist Billie Ellish now like he didn’t do the same thing to Taylor Swift at 19? He’s really 44 and still growing up now,” one added.
Kanye West really out here beefing with another 20 year old young female artist Billie Ellish now like he didn’t do the same thing to Taylor Swift at 19? He’s really 44 and still growing up now 😭
With the conversation unfolding further, fans began pointing out the overarching misogyny that exists in the media and music industry.
“Kanye def has a constant need to control and undermine women and it shows itself time and time again. His actions are never called what they are. Pure misogyny. [Billie] didn’t even mention his name,” wrote one user.
Kanye def has a constant need to control and undermine women and it shows itself time and time again. His actions are never called what they are. Pure misogyny. She didn’t even mention his name… please leave Coachella and my twitter feed. https://t.co/GaHIz0UbfC
“The actual misogyny of these comments from Kanye. A woman has to apologise for having an opinion or you won’t perform?” questioned another.
The actual misogyny of these comments from Kanye. A woman has to apologise for having an opinion or you won’t perform? 😬 https://t.co/iK6MxkhTOw
As some users went on to point out, Ye's post — perhaps inadvertently — shifted the discussion from Travis and Astroworld to one about Billie's brief comment instead.
“love that the conversation has shifted from travis scott being a trash human being… to if billie was “shading him” by helping out a fan, whens she’s been known to do that since 2018. misogyny runs deep in media and in kanye’s mind,” they wrote.
As well as the debate around misogyny, however, fans were confused as to why Ye felt the need to demand an apology from Billie on behalf of Travis.
“It’s weird & misogynistic how Kanye is demanding an apology from Billie Eilish on behalf of Travis Scott. Especially when Travis Scott didn’t even genuinely apologize or hold himself accountable for what he did. Overall, Billie Eilish did nothing wrong,” wrote one person, before going on to call his statement “entitled.”
It’s weird & misogynistic how Kanye is demanding an apology from Billie Eilish on behalf of Travis Scott. Especially when Travis Scott didn’t even genuinely apologize or hold himself accountable for what he did. Overall, Billie Eilish did nothing wrong.
“Why did Kanye speak on Travis' behalf? Travis is also set to perform at Coachella, right? If he felt offended, he's grown enough to speak on it. He's not a child. If anything, it makes him look worse. Plain cringey behaviour,” questioned another.
@SYeezy05 @nbatakezTT @imkj__ @chxse999x @YourMusicWhore Let's say for arguments sake, it was a dig. Why did Kanye speak on Travis' behalf? Travis is also set to perform at Coachella, right? If he felt offended, he's grown enough to speak on it. He's not a child. If anything, it makes him look worse. Plain cringey behaviour.
However, it looks like Travis is in agreement with Ye, given that he sneakily liked — and quickly unliked — the Instagram post in question, prompting further backlash over his apparent lack of “remorse” for the situation.
Hot Topic
🔥 Full coverage and conversation on Taylor Swift
We see you lurking 👀
Join a Taylor Swift conversation instead.
See the Discussions