He's 31, she's just 20 - Billie Eilish's relationship with fellow musician Jesse Rutherford has been causing controversy for a few weeks. Now the singer is commenting on this for the first time and makes it clear: she does not want to be assigned a victim role.
Billie Eilish has opened up about her relationship with Jesse Rutherford to Vanity Fair magazine for the first time. In the interview, the singer raves about her fellow musicians in the highest – and sometimes idiosyncratic – tones.
"I'm really inspired by this person and he's inspired by me," explains the 20-year-old. "It's really cool and I'm very excited and happy about it."
Eilish and Rutherford were first photographed together in October this year. They had their first official appearance as a couple at the beginning of November on the red carpet of the LACMA Art Film Gala - in the bizarre Gucci partner look.
The relationship caused controversy among the public. After all, the singer of the indie band The Neighborhood is eleven years older than the Grammy winner. But it wasn't just the age difference that raised eyebrows. Some also objected to the fact that the singer already knew his colleague when she was still a minor. "Jesse Rutherford has known Billie since she was 15 and he was 26. Since she was a kid - and now he's dating her? This just can't be good," wrote one user on Twitter.
Eilish and Rutherford ironically took up the Halloween discussion. She appeared at a party dressed as a baby, he as an old man. Eilish also addressed the debate in an interview with "Vanity Fair". She doesn't just emphasize being in control of the relationship. She also claims that she was not seduced by the older man, but rather captured him. "I managed to take my life to a point where I not only hooked up with someone I thought was the sexiest f**k in the world, but I saved his ass. I can't help it get a round of applause?" she sums it up in her own words. "I finished the bastard," she adds.
Since her breakthrough in 2017, Eilish has met with Vanity Fair once a year for a chat. The magazine calls this format "time capsule". This time, the singer also reveals that she feels physically better than in previous years. "I've made a big shift in my fitness lifestyle this year," she explains. "It's been a really crazy process and I feel better than ever." She previously stated that she had hated her body since she was a child.
She's also doing better mentally, says Eilish. "The 2020 Billie had a big identity crisis," she says, looking back on the "Time Capsule" interview two years ago. Today she describes her former self as a parody of herself.
There is more good news for her fans: Eilish is currently working on a new album with her brother Finneas.
