Billie Eilish graces the cover of Elle magazine ahead of the theatrical release of her concert movie “Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D)” and reveals her fourth album is “more than half way” done, although “that’s all I will say” on what’s in store for her next LP. The Grammy winner spoke more in depth about her penchant for speaking out against ICE, billionaires and more hot-button political issues.
“I was raised like this,” Eilish told the magazine. “When you have this insane platform that you can use to advocate for people, but you’re not advocating for people because you don’t want to be controversial? Why is it controversial to step in when someone’s getting bullied and try to stop it? Yeah, you’re probably gonna have to deal with some problems, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.”
Eilish attended the Grammys earlier this year wearing an “ICE Out” pin and yelled “fuck ICE!” on stage during her acceptance speech for song of the year for “Wildflower.”
“As grateful as I feel, I honestly don’t feel like I need to say anything but that no one is illegal on stolen land,” Eilish added. “And, yeah, it’s just really hard to know what to say and what to do right now, and I feel really hopeful in this room, and I feel like we just need to keep fighting and speaking up and protesting, and our voices really do matter, and the people matter, and fuck ICE. That’s all I’m going to say. Sorry. Thank you so much.”
Last November, Eilish gave an acceptance speech at the Wall Street Journal Innovator Awards and called out billionaires. Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg was in attendance at the ceremony.
“We’re in a time right now where the world is really, really bad and really dark and people need empathy and help more than kind of ever, especially in our country,” Eilish told the room at the time. “Love you all, but there’s a few people in here that have a lot more money than me. If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties.”
A few days later, Eilish took to her Instagram story to slam Elon Musk for hoarding his wealth while approaching trillionaire status. She called Musk a “fucking pathetic pussy bitch coward” for not giving his money away toward humanitarian relief efforts.
For what it’s worth, Eilish walks the walk. The same night she called out billionaires, the music star pledged to donate $11.5 million from her tour earnings to multiple charities and organizations.
Elsewhere in her Elle cover story, Eilish opened up about getting emotional over touring without her brother and co-songwriter and producer Finneas for the first time during her “Hit Me Hard and Soft” run. Finneas dropped by to join his sister for select shows, but the tour marked the first time in Eilish’s career that she worked extensively without her brother. She refuted any speculation that not touring together means there is a rift between the siblings.
“I heard somebody say, ‘Did you guys hear Finneas and Billie had a falling-out?’” Eilish said. “Finneas and I have never and will never have a falling-out, ever in our lives. We’ll get in the biggest fucking fight you’ve ever heard of in your life…and five minutes later, we’re back, laughing and making music. It’s sibling shit. There’s nothing else in the world like sibling relationships… If I never saw Finneas at all, I might literally never make a song again…. But how do we move on and have separate lives?”
Watch Eilish’s video interview with Elle in the video below.
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