PA ImagesBillie Eilish has defended Drake, months after he was deemed ‘creepy’ when the then-17-year-old revealed that she and the rapper had been texting.
The teenager made the revelation in November last year, describing the 33-year-old rapper as ‘the nicest dude I’ve ever spoken to’ – something that caused concern among her fans, who couldn’t wrap their heads around why Drake, a grown man, would be texting a teenage girl almost half his age.
Now though, the Bad Guy singer has responded to the claims that Drake is creepy, saying people are too ‘sensitive’ and have simply overreacted to the situation.
PA ImagesBillie, now 18, defended Drake and their texting relationship, basically saying he’s just a fan of her work and there isn’t anything wrong with that.
She told Vogue:
The internet is such a stupid-ass mess right now. Everybody’s so sensitive. A grown man can’t be a fan of an artist? There are so many people that the internet should be more worried about.
Like, you’re really going to say that Drake is creepy because he’s a fan of mine, and then you’re going to go vote for Trump? What the f*ck is that sh*t?”
Her argument didn’t do much to convince her fans though, who still deemed the 33-year-old’s behaviour as ‘gross’ and ‘manipulative’. Others said his behaviour was akin to grooming.
Billie Eilish saying Drake, in his 30s, texting her at 17, isn't bad or wrong just shows his grooming is working
I'd be extremely uncomfortable if a 30 year old man was texting me at 16-17
Drake shouldn't be texting ANY underaged girl
— 🍒💕 Sarah 💕🍒 (@AstroBabe97) February 3, 2020
i still don’t trust drake around young girls but maybe billie will realize how gross it is that grown men are so interested in her when she’s a little older cause when you’re her age that all seems normal https://t.co/HJVV73z5Dh
— ✩ (@anopensea) February 3, 2020
anyway we cant convince billie to change her mind and we cant blame her bc shes a young artist. she'll also think it'd be cool to be friends with a senior artist she probably respects, but i really hope drake receives the consequences for being a creep all the time soon
— 🗡 (@taiIingacomet) February 4, 2020
Apparently Billie eilish defended her friendship with Drake, which is actually really sad, because his manipulation seems to be working. Girl, he's not just a fan of your music. He's a fan of your age–except now that you're 18, maybe not
— Moon Hermit (@actualmaryam) February 4, 2020
Considering this isn’t the first time Drake has texted teenage girls – more specifically, underage girls, as the age of consent in Billie’s hometown of Los Angeles is 18 – it’s easy to see why the singer’s fans are concerned about their ‘friendship’.
Especially because in 2018, Millie Bobby Brown revealed Drake had been texting her, stating: ‘We just texted each other the other day and he was like “I miss you so much”, and I was like “I miss you more”.’
The Stranger Things actor also said they spoke about boys, with him giving her advice. ‘I love him,’ she added. Millie was 14 at the time, leading many to question why the rapper would be telling her he missed her in the first place.
While one person said it was understandable if Millie has a crush on Drake, they continued that he had ‘no business texting her “I miss you so much”.’ Another described it as ‘absolutely creepy’ that the rapper ‘gives advice on boys’ to the now-15-year-old.
Similar to Billie, Millie also defended their friendship, writing on her Instagram story shortly after people expressed their concern: ‘Why u gotta make a lovely friendship ur headline? U guys are weird… for real.’
She said people should spend their time discussing ‘real problems’ instead, writing, as per Complex:
Im very blessed to have amazing people in my life. U dont get to choose that for me.
Drake has not commented on the situation at this time.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).