Billie Eilish has responded to a resurfaced video that appears to show her mouthing an anti-Asian remark, apologizing for behavior that she says made her “want to barf.”
An edited compilation of several videos that was posted on TikTok last week appears to show the singer mouthing an Asian racial slur used in Tyler the Creator’s 2011 song “Fish” and imitating various accents. As the video spread on social media, Eilish’s fans have been commenting on her accounts, asking her to make a statement.
Eilish delivered on that request via her Instagram story on Monday night, writing: “I love you guys, and many of you have been asking me to address this. And this is something that I WANT to address because I’m being labeled something that I am not.”
“There’s a video edit going around of me when I was 13 or 14 where I mouthed a word from a song that at the time I didn’t know was a derogatory term used against members of the Asian community,” Eilish continued. “I am appalled and embarrassed and want to barf that I ever mouthed along to that word. This song was the only time I’d ever heard that word as it was never used around me by anyone in my family. Regardless of my ignorance and age at the time, nothing excuses the fact is that it was hurtful. And for that I am sorry.”
