'Acting sexual with girls to draw an audience is gross': Billie Eilish is accused of 'queerbaiting' after frolicking with women in racy video released during Pride Month
- In her Lost Cause video, the singer, 19, frolics with her female pals at a party and puts on an animated display sticking out her tongue while they all pose
- Billie has never spoken outwardly about her sexuality
- The erotically-charged imagery and her later post declaring: 'I love girls', led to debate that she may be 'queerbaiting' by releasing the clip during Pride Month
- Urban Dictionary defines queerbaiting as: 'A marketing technique used to attract queer viewers that involves creating romantic or sexual tension between two same-sex characters but never making it canon or evolving on it'
Billie Eilish has been accused of queerbaiting by confused followers after she shared a slew of behind-the-scenes snaps from her Lost Cause video.
In the images the singer, 19, frolics with her female pals at a party and puts on an animated display sticking out her tongue while they all pose closely together.
However after sharing the edgy pictures with the caption 'I love girls', Billie came under fire in the comments with some of her 86.9m fans questioning her actions.
A TikTok user with the handle Wap.Lover uploaded a message in which she penned: 'Acting sexual with girls to draw in more audience is gross.'
Claims: Billie Eilish has been accused of queerbaiting by some confused followers after she shared behind-the-scenes snaps from her Lost Cause video
'I love girls': Several of the 19=year-old singer's followers were left baffled by her caption, with some making the queerbaiting accusations and some suggesting she was coming out
Some music lovers suggested Billie might be coming out in the post and others praised her video saying she looked 'confident' and 'stunning as ever'.
Despite the praise, others were a little uneasy about it and wrote: 'Funny she is posting this in June, pride month. Bestie you better not be queer baiting.'
And another added: 'Bye I literally cannot. It's like if she's coming out good for her but if she claims to be straight after this, bestie it's queer baiting sorry...'
While a third put: 'I really hope this isn't queer baiting'.
Girl gang: Billie is seen enjoying a slumber party with her pals in the racy video to her new song
A TikTok user with the handle Wap.Lover uploaded a message in which she penned: 'Acting sexual with girls to draw in more audience is gross.'
Elsewhere in the comments section, Billie's fans debated whether she was using the post and caption to discuss her sexuality.
One person replied: 'Wait wait wait, is this a come out??????'
'Uhm this better be you coming out cause I've been simping [crushing] my whole life', wrote another.
Urban Dictionary defines queerbaiting as: 'A marketing technique used to attract queer viewers that involves creating romantic or sexual tension between two same-sex characters but never making it canon or evolving on it.'
Rich Ferraro, chief communications officer at GLAAD, added to the idea saying it can sometimes also be called 'gaybaiting'.
Reaction: Despite many music lovers praising her snaps, others were a little uneasy with one writing: 'Funny she is posting this in June, pride month. Bestie you better not be queer baiting'
They told the Yahoo Life: 'We often see it from brands or talent who are trying to market products or projects to the community and have a goal not to create change, but to profit from LGBTQ dollars.'
Other celebrities have been accused of queerbaiting including Nick Jonas, Rita Ora after the release of song Girls, with her later coming out as bisexual, and Ariana Grande, after the release of her song Monopoly in 2019, reports the BBC.
Addressing claims in 2014, Nick told Pride Source: 'Everyone's entitled to their own opinion. I think it's unfortunate that some people have to find a negative in every situation.
'Clearly my heart is in the right place... and if they just looked at my life and my gay friends and the authentic nature of where my heart is, they'd just see that they're kind of ignorant.'
While most recently Dove Cameron shared that part of the reason she came out publicly as bisexual was because fans thought she was engaging in queerbaiting.
Billie also came under fire for her song Wish You Were Gay back in 2019, with the star later addressing the furore and saying that it's 'not supposed to be an insult'
What does it mean? Elsewhere in the comments section, Billie's fans debated whether she was using the post and caption to discuss her sexuality (pictured, one of the filming snaps)
'Is this a come out?' Others thought Billie was coming out with her Instagram post
Speaking with PopBuzz, Billie said: 'First off, I want to be so clear that it's so not supposed to be an insult. I feel like it's been a little bit misinterpreted. I tried so hard to not make it in any way offensive.
'The whole idea of the song is, it's kind of a joke. It's kind of like, 'I'm an ass, and you don't love me. And you don't love me because you don't love me and that's the only reason — and I wish you didn't love me because you didn't love f---ing girls'.'
Track Lost Cause will feature on Billie's upcoming album Happier Than Ever, which is set for release later in 2021.
Happier Than Ever's first single, entitled My Future, was released last July and went on to debut at the number six spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Coming soon: Track Lost Cause will feature on Billie's upcoming album Happier Than Ever, which is set for release on July 30th (pictured in another scene from the video)
Switching around: The hitmaker donned several outfits in the photos, including a velvet dress and a matching button-up shirt
Therefore I Am, the second single, made its debut in November and quickly jumped from the low 90's to the number two position on the listing.
In April, Eilish made an announcement regarding the album's title, and billboards promoting the upcoming release began to appear in various cities.
That same month, her third single, Your Power, hit the airwaves and was met with critical acclaim, with its music video receiving much attention for its content.
Lost Cause was announced earlier this month, and its own visuals were also made public the day of the song's release.
Happier Than Ever includes 16 new tracks and will be released on July 30th.
An inside look: Billie beamed in another picture from the video shoot, which saw the women playing around with string confetti and laughing
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