Billie Eilish has found herself at the center of online criticism after remarks she made about people who eat meat while saying they “love animals.”
The BIRDS OF A FEATHER artist was brought up vegetarian and has been openly vegan for more than ten years, frequently using her visibility to speak about animal welfare.
Eilish has previously explained that she made the switch to veganism in 2014 for a “lot of reasons,” including concerns about how dairy production affects animals.
She’s also acknowledged that many people in her life still eat meat, and while she doesn’t claim to dictate anyone’s choices, she once described her mindset in an interview with British Vogue:
“I just can’t go on in my life knowing what’s going on in the world, and not do anything about it.”
Now, a newer interview clip is prompting fresh debate.
Speaking to Elle as part of its Ask Me Anything series, Eilish was asked:
“What hill would you die on?”
She prefaced her response by saying:
“Y’all are not going to like me for this one,”
She then offered her view:
“Eating meat is inherently wrong,”
Eilish went on to argue that a love of animals and eating them can’t align, adding:
“And the other thing is, two things can not coincide. ‘I love animals. I love all animals so much, and I eat meat.’ You just can’t do both, sorry.”
She also added a clarification that her point wasn’t about policing anyone’s diet:
“You can eat meat, go for it! You can love animals, but you can’t do both.”
The exchange has since been widely shared on X (formerly Twitter), where some commenters pushed back, with a number of people describing her stance as “privileged.”
One user criticized the reasoning by writing:
“This logic is flawed,” wrote one social media user. “You drive a car, does that mean you don’t love the environment? You use plastic, does that mean you don’t love the ocean? You’ve swatted a mosquito, so do you hate wildlife? I guess you can’t love birds, because you have glass windows?”
Another questioned the message and the lifestyle implications:
“Love her bur she’s kind of a hypocrite. Also I feel like this is a very privileged take lol.”
That sparked further replies focusing on cost:
“It is SO privileged, do you know how expensive that vegan s**t is?” another responded.
Others argued that appreciating animals doesn’t necessarily conflict with consuming meat:
“You can appreciate and love animals while still understanding that we are animals ourselves and need to eat.”
At the same time, plenty of people supported Eilish’s comments, including one person who wrote:
“She’s right but y’all aren’t ready for this conversation.”
Another added:
“When you lowkey have the same opinion a celebrity got cancelled for…”
Animal rights organization PETA also amplified the clip on Instagram, writing:
“What’s on your plate isn’t separate from your values! @billieeilish said what needed to be said with @elleusa and we’re standing on it. If you truly love animals, you can’t eat them!” they wrote in the caption.
Representatives for Billie Eilish have been contacted for comment.