Billie Eilish has revealed that she was abused when she was underage. The 19-year-old singer, who appears on the June cover of British Vogue, opened up in the interview about how she was taken advantage of by someone older years ago, though she pointed out that it “wasn’t a music industry figure” who did it. The revelation came on the heels of her new single “Your Power,” which she says is an “open letter to people who take advantage – mostly men.”
- Eilish said she didn’t pay much attention to age when she was younger. Eilish explained that in the past, she never understood what role age differences play in relationships and it’s only recently when she’s started to realize how damaging it can be. “I used to not understand why age mattered. And, of course, you feel like that when you’re young because you’re the oldest you’ve ever been. You feel like you’re so mature and you know everything.”
- The more she thought about the experience, the more she realized how wrong it was. While Eilish may have technically consented to a relationship at the time, the fact of the matter is that she was underage and wasn’t really in a position to be making those kind of decisions. “People forget that you can grow up and realize s*** was f***** up when you were younger,” she said.
- Now, Eilish is using her music to confront those who abuse power and take advantage of people. In addition to her new single “Your Power,” her new album also contains a song called “When I Was Older” that takes men like this to task. “I wanted to say that it doesn’t matter who you are, what your life is, your situation, who you surround yourself with, how strong you are, how smart you are,” she explained. “You can always be taken advantage of. That’s a big problem in the world of domestic abuse or statutory rape – girls that were very confident and strong-willed finding themselves in situations where they’re like, ‘Oh my god, I’m the victim here?’ And it’s so embarrassing and humiliating and demoralizing to be in that position of thinking you know so much and then you realize, I’m being abused right now.”
- Eilish won’t reveal more about her own abuse, but she’s acting as a voice for others. She wants to point out how commonplace situations like these are to hopefully help put a stop to them.
