Billie Eilish on Coming Out: Thought It Was “Obvious”

Billie Eilish has addressed the public reaction to her coming out, saying she thought it was “obvious” even before a recent Variety interview that she prefers women.

While being interviewed on the red carpet for Variety’s December 2nd Hitmakers event, Eilish explained that she “didn’t” intend to come out in the profile. “I kinda thought, ‘Wasn’t it obvious?’” the singer said. “I just didn’t realize people didn’t know.”

Besides that, Eilish said she doesn’t “believe in” the concept of having to come out: “I’m just like, why can’t we just exist? I’ve been doing this for a long time and I just didn’t talk about it. Whoops.”

“I saw all the articles [and] was like, ‘Oh, I guess I came out today. Okay cool,’” she continued. “But it’s exciting to me because I guess people didn’t know, so it’s cool that they know.”  Eilish added, “I am for the girls.”

In the original interview, Eilish spoke about having trouble relating to women, despite her love and attraction to them. “I’ve never really felt like I could relate to girls very well,” she explained. “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 in the cover story, Eilish said she has “never felt like a woman” after being sexualized from a young age.

Eilish has six nominations for the 2024 Grammys, with five of them for her Barbie soundtrack cut “What Was I Made For?” Later this month, she will take the Saturday Night Live stage as a musical guest.

Billie Eilish opens up about coming out in her Variety cover story: “I didn’t realize people didn’t know!” | Variety Hitmakers presented by @sonyelectronics https://t.co/xxmgD0zs3Y pic.twitter.com/uDDbCk6tgp

— Variety (@Variety) December 2, 2023