Billie Eilish has apologized for mouthing a racial slur while lip syncing Tyler, The Creator’s “Fish” in a video that recently resurfaced on TikTok, which was recorded when she was 13 or 14 years old. The video also accuses her of mocking asian accents, which she assures fans was “in NO way an imitation of anyone or any language, accent or culture in the SLIGHTEST.”

The video begins with a clip of her speaking gibberish that TikTok users thought sounded like she was mocking Asians, then cuts to a snippet of an old livestream video in which she lip syncs the Asian slur found in the opening lyrics of Tyler, The Creator’s controversial song, “Fish,” which begins, “Slip it in her drink/And in the blink of an eye I can make a white girl look c***k.” 

@lcxvyReply to @.lisqvz #billieeilish #billieeilishcancelled lol♬ original sound – lena !!!

Eilish apologized, “I love you guys, and many of you have been asking me to address this. And this is something that I WANT to address because I’m being labeled something that I am not. There’s a video edit going around of me when I was 13 or 14 where I mouthed a word from a song that at the time I didn’t know was a derogatory term used against members of the Asian community. I am appalled and embarrassed and want to barf that I ever mouthed along to that word. This song was the only time I’d ever heard that word as it was never used around me by anyone in my family. Regardless of my ignorance and age at the time, nothing excuses the fact that it was hurtful. And for that I am sorry. The other video in that edited clip is me speaking in a silly gibberish made up voice…something I started doing as a kid and have done my whole life when talking to my pets, friends and family. It is absolute gibberish and just me goofing around and is in NO way an imitation of anyone or any language, accent or culture in the SLIGHTEST. Anyone who knows me has seen me goofing around with voices my whole life. Regardless of how it was interpreted I did not mean for any of my actions to have caused hurt to others and it absolutely breaks my heart that it is being labeled now in a way that might cause pain to people hearing it. I not only believe in, but have always worked hard to use my platform to fight for inclusion, kindness, tolerance, equity and equality. We all need to continue having conversations, listening and learning. I hear you and I love you. Thank you for taking the time to read this.”

Eilish is currently going through the album rollout for her sophomore record Happier Than Ever, which is due July 30 via Darkroom/Interscope Records, featuring singles like “Lost Cause,” “Your Power,” “my future” and “Therefore I Am.” It will be the follow-up to her highly successful debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019), which featured singles like “bad guy,” “when the party’s over” and “bury a friend.” It swept all four of the Grammy Awards’ major categories, ‘Best New Artist,’ ‘Song of the Year,’ ‘Album of the Year’ and ‘Record of the Year’ in 2019.

She has a tour planned in support of the album for February-April 2022 in the United States and in Europe in June-July 2022. Notably, she plans to play two nights at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY on February 18-19 and three nights at The Forum in Los Angeles, CA on April 6, 8 and 9. Eilish also plans to headline several major music festivals this year, including The Governors Ball in Queens, NY, Firefly Festival in Dover, DE and Austin City Limits in Austin, TX.