It's hard to believe, but until two days ago, Billie Eilish was still reading comments online and even interacting with her fans. But, she explains, things have gone too far and she had to stop. However, according to People, she told the BBC before the BRIT Awards in London that she gets where those online trolls are coming from, because she used to do the same thing.
"It was ruining my life. I stopped two days ago. Literally, two days ago. I stopped reading comments fully. It's way worse than it’s ever been right now," she told BBC reporter Louise Minchin of ignoring comments. "It's weird: the cooler the things you get to do are the more people hate you. It’s crazy."
The cooler things that she's talking about could be things like singing the latest James Bond theme song, "No Time to Die," or taking home an armload of Grammys. She adds that the reason most people post hateful comments is that they think it's funny. It's something she can relate to, she says, because when she w was younger, she'd say things just to make people laugh, disregarding the fact that her comments could be hurtful.
"It's a bunch of trolls. And the problem is a lot of it is really funny. I think that’s the issue. That's why nobody really stops: because it’s funny," she said. "Also, I would say it's anything for a joke. Say anything to make somebody laugh. I experienced that growing up: I'd say things that I thought people would laugh at and then later I would realize that wasn’t a cool thing to say."
Things that people may think are funny include dressing up as Eilish and pretending to be her. She addressed the phenomenon last month, telling her fans that it wasn't cool. Not only was it making her look bad, she noted, it is mean to the people that are being pranked.
"Please stop doing this shit,” she wrote at the time. "It is not safe for you and it is mean to the people who don't know any better. You make me look bad."
Though she's taking a break from reading comments, Eilish hopes that she can still have a relationship with her fans. She'll continue to like posts and talk to fans, but she's sticking to her guns and steering clear of comments online.
"It's insane that I have even been reading comments up until this point. “I should have stopped long ago. The problem is, I’ve always wanted to stay in touch with the fans and keep talking to them — people have ruined that for me. And for them. They’ve ruined it for them and that sucks," she said. "I still try to 'like' fan posts or whatever and especially if I see fans anywhere, I just want to talk to them and be around them because they're people. They're me. They're me. They're like other mes. And so, they're like friends of mine but, yeah, the internet is ruining my life. So, I turned it off."
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