Billie Eilish Calls 3-Hour Concerts ‘Psychotic’ Amid Taylor Swift Feud Rumors
In her recent track, “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me,” Taylor Swift belts the lyric, “So tell me everything is not about me—but what if it is?” Following Billie Eilish’s latest music industry hot take, Swifties are asking themselves the same question.
ICYMI: As Eilish’s album Hit Me Hard and Soft faces off against The Tortured Poets Department for the top spot on the Billboard 200, rumors of an alleged feud between the artists have been gaining traction on social media.
It all started back in March, when Eilish spoke about the environmental ramifications of excessive vinyl variants, which artists put out to boost their sales. Some fans thought her remarks were a jab at Swift, though they could easily be applied to many musicians. Eilish confirmed as much in an April Instagram Story, telling fans that she wasn’t “singling anyone out” in the Billboard article.
“These are industry-wide systemic issues,” Eilish wrote at the time, reiterating that she also takes part in the marketing practice. She continued, “The climate crisis is now and it’s about all of us being part of the problem and trying to do better sheesh.”
Things began to heat up once Eilish released eight eco-friendly vinyl variants of her album on May 17, as well as multiple follow-up digital releases. Meanwhile, Swift released a few more digital versions of Tortured Poets, as well as a remix of her single “Fortnight” by music producer BLOND:ISH, who is a known environmental activist.
While there’s a bit more to the discourse than that (which you can read about here) these releases are pretty par for the course in the music industry. For the most part, the evidence is pretty circumstantial—and frankly, pretty flimsy. Then, Eilish shared her thoughts on “psychotic” three-hour concerts on May 23.
“I’m not doing a three-hour show, that’s literally psychotic,” Eilish said during a fan discussion on the Stationhead app, per fan recordings. “Nobody wants that. You guys don’t want that. I don’t want that. I don’t even want that as a fan. My favorite artist in the world, I’m not trying to hear them for three hours.”
How long does Swift perform during The Eras Tour? Three hours and 15 minutes. Unsurprisingly, many fans believe Eilish was dissing Swift and Beyoncé, considering her Renaissance Tour also boasted a three-hour runtime, per CNN. “IDK the renaissance tour and the eras tour seem to be doing pretty well for what apparently ‘nobody wants,’” one TikTok user commented on a post about the drama.
“What the actual eff are you doing Billie,” another TikTok user captioned their video on the subject. “You just released a really good album. Why in the world do you think its okay to outrightly throw shade at Taylor Swift for doing NOTHING TO YOU except being successful? Except for walking so artists like Billie can run?? I am so confused. Ive always really liked Billie and I cant make sense of this.”
Of course, others have come to Eilish’s defense, suggesting she was only talking about her own music. In fact, the 22-year-old has previously referred to Swift and Beyoncé as “untouchable superstars” when it comes to their blockbuster tours. “It’s so sad that people are taking this out of context when Billie was literally talking about her own setlist and has showed love to [The Renaissance Tour and The Eras Tour] before,” one Eilish fan account posted on X.com.
Taylor Swift has yet to comment on any of Eilish’s statements, though one fan joked that the entire feud is a marketing ploy to boost sales for both artists and that Swift is “contractually obligated” to “say something kind of snarky back” during her next concert.
In case you were wondering, The Eras Tour kicks off in Lisbon on May 24.
