Is Billie Eilish Shading Taylor Swift With This Anti-Billionaire Speech?! Some Swifties Are Hitting Back!

Billie Eilish is putting her mouth where her money is… And riling up Swifties in the process! The Gen Z pop star appeared at the WSJ Innovator Awards in New York on Wednesday, where she accepted the prestigious Music Innovator Award. And she used her acceptance speech as an opportunity to call out the ultra ULTRA rich — some of whom were right there in the crowd! Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was there to hear Billie as she criticized the idea of even being a billionaire. While clutching her award, the Birds of a Feather singer unapologetically called out the elephant in the room: “We’re in a time right now where the world is really, really bad and really dark and people need empathy and help more than kind of ever, especially in our country.” She continued: “And I’d say if you have money, it would be great to use it for good things and maybe give it to some people that need it … Love you all, but there are a few people in here who have a lot more money than me. If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but give your money away, shorties.” What a pointed line! “If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire?” "if you're a billionaire, why are you a billionaire?" -Billie at the @WSJ Innovator awards tonight in New York! pic.twitter.com/YjSoi4Ei0R — Billie Eilish Society (@BillieSociety) October 30, 2025 While she didn’t clearly name any billionaire in particular, Taylor Swift’s fanbase QUICKLY got defensive on social media! Not only is their queen is the richest pop star on the planet, with an estimated net worth of around $1.6 billion — she’s also faced a TON of backlash for her billionaire status since The Life of a Showgirl dropped, promising to earn her even more. On X (Twitter), Swifties immediately started firing clapbacks at Billie, who is also a rich pop star, having amassed millions over the course of her career. Many saw her comments as hypocritical — but definitely as shady: “i never cared if someone is a billionaire or not and i don’t think anyone does except americans with their fake outrage about everything cause girl your [net] worth is over $250M you fall in the same category” “i’m sorry i usually try to keep it positive and avoid posting about people i don’t care about but this is pissing me tf off………… the virtue signaling, the performance of being a good person, the absolute lack of self awareness wow” “You’re a millionaire right? Why? Give your money away. When you do others may follow. Hypocrite” “If you’re a millionaire, why are you a millionaire?” Just donate those guitars to underprivileged kids; there is no need to earn any profit” “Mind you, this girl is a multimillionaire; like, just because you haven’t reached 10 digits yet doesn’t make you the hero of the working class.” “AND YOU HAVE A LOT MORE MONEY THAN MOST PEOPLE, BILLIE… So if you’re a MILLIONAIRE, why are you a MILLIONAIRE? No hate, but yeah. Give your money away, Billie, and stop being so performative!” Well, the Birds of a Feather did also put her money where her mouth is. Elsewhere in the evening, Stephen Colbert announced that Billie is donating an astounding $11.5 MILLION from her Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour proceeds to support organizations fighting food insecurity, carbon pollution, and climate change. Now that’s a contribution! We have to wonder if Billie was even thinking of Tay when she said all this. We mean, Taylor may be the most ethical billionaire we know! Not only has she been a HUGE contributor to various organizations over the years, she also quietly gives thousands of dollars in private donations all the time to people in need, apparently scrolling through GoFundMe “like a social media app” in her downtime. We have to think Billie’s speech was more pointed at the billionaire who was ACTUALLY in the room. She did mention “there are a few people in here” when she said it. And Zuckerberg is worth $257.3 BILLION. Now THAT is someone who could really change the world with his money. Why would Swifties think Billie was talking about Tay? Well, there’s a history here. Last year, the 23-year-old dragged “wasteful” artists for pumping out “all sorts of different vinyl and packaging” variants for their albums “which ups the sales and ups the numbers and gets them more money and gets them more.” She ranted at the time: “I can’t even express to you how wasteful it is. It is right in front of our faces and people are just getting away with it left and right, and I find it really frustrating as somebody who really goes out of my way to be sustainable and do the best that I can and try to involve everybody in my team in being sustainable … And then it’s some of the biggest artists in the world making f**king 40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more. It’s so wasteful, and it’s irritating to me that we’re still at a point where you care that much about your numbers and you care that much about making money — and it’s all your favorite artists doing that s**t.” Taylor is known for creating SEVERAL variants of her albums with exclusive songs, voice notes, cover art, and more. So yeah, folks did think that was directed more at Tay than anyone else in the industry. What are your thoughts on this latest drama, Perezcious readers? Is Billie trying to punch up at Taylor? Or was she thinking about the REALLY rich guys who don’t seem to be doing any good with it all? Let us know in the comments down below! [Images via MEGA/WENN]