Billie Eilish is ‘attracted’ to women but ‘intimidated’ by them
Billie Eilish has called out reporters who ask her about her sexuality. (Mike Marsland/WireImage/Getty)
The “What Was I Made For” singer’s sexuality has been a subject of debate ever since she first rose to fame – much to her frustration. Online searches for ‘is Billie Eilish a lesbian’ regularly crop up in lists of viral terms.
Recently, Billie Eilish revealed in an interview that she is, in fact, physically attracted to women, but admits that she feels “intimidated” by their “beauty and their presence.”
In a November 2023 interview with Variety’s The Power of Women issue, Eilish decided to open up about her struggles with public scrutiny over her body, her sexuality, and her relationships, which she always found “weird and upsetting.”
The Grammy-winning recording artist now shares that she has “never felt desired or desirable”, and has spent years assuming that other women don’t like her.
“I never felt like I could relate to girls very well,” she admits.
“I love them so much. I love them as people. I’m attracted to them as people. I’m attracted to them for real.”
Eilish continued: “I have deep connections with women in my life, the friends in my life, the family in my life.
“I’m physically attracted to them. But I’m also so intimidated by them and their beauty and their presence.”
Elsewhere, Eilish shared that she has never really felt like a “desirable” woman.
“I’ve never felt like a woman, to be honest with you. I’ve never felt desirable. I’ve never felt feminine. I have to convince myself that I’m, like, a pretty girl.”
“I identify as ‘she/her’ and things like that, but I’ve never really felt like a girl.”
One thing that has recently helped Eilish to better connect to other women is the release of her multi-Grammy-nominated song “What Was I Made For?”, written for the 2023 Barbie movie.
The song accompanies a deeply emotional moment in the film, win which Barbie creator Ruth Handler (Rhea Perlman) teaches Barbie (Margot Robbie) about what it means to be a woman in the world, showing her visions of real women’s lives.
The scene and Eilish’s song went viral ten times over, with female-identifying TikTokers using the sound as a way to share their own unique experiences of woman and girlhood.
“It was so moving, dude. It was so touching,” said Eilish.
“I feel like I helped bring people together, and it felt so special. I wasn’t expecting to have women around the world feel connected.”
Eilish’s revelations about her sexuality and her budding relationship with femininity came shortly after the 21-year-old singer reignited the ‘is Billie Eilish a lesbian’ debate by using an Instagram filter that said: “Gay and Tired.”
Around the same time as the photo was posted to Eilish’s Instagram story, an old video of her began circulating on TikTok, in which she tells fans: “I am as straight as a ruler… yeah. I’m very, very, very, very, very straight.
“I know people are like, ‘She made me go gay.’ I’m like, ‘Damn, that’s cool.’ I’m, like, proud.”
