Billie Eilish apologizes after old video shows use of racial slur: ‘Appalled and embarrassed’

Billie Eilish says she’s “appalled and embarrassed” after a video of her resurfaced that appears to show her mouthing a racial slur.

The “Lost Cause” singer wrote in an Instagram Story post on Monday, “There’s a video edit 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.”

Expressing shame for the clip — which was posted on TikTok last week — the 19-year-old entertainer said she wanted “to barf that I ever mouthed along to that word.”

In the video, Eilish is seen silently singing along to the 2011 Tyler, the Creator song “Fish,” which includes the lyric: “Slip it in her drink, and in the blink of an eye I can make a white girl look c—k.”

“This song was the only time I’d ever heard that word as it was never used around me by anyone in my family,” Eilish wrote in a statement.

“Regardless of my ignorance and age at the time, nothing excuses the fact is that it was hurtful,” said Eilish, “and for that I am sorry.”

But Eilish pushed back on accusations that she was also mocking Asians in the edited video by speaking in a nonsensical way.

Describing it as a “silly gibberish made up voice,” Eilish said her words were “something I started doing as a kid and have done my whole life when talking to my pets, friends, and family.”

It was “in NO way an imitation of anyone or any language, accent, or culture in the SLIGHTEST,” Eilish, who performed at last year’s virtual Democratic National Convention, said.

“I’m being labeled something I am not,” the performer wrote to her more than 87 million Instagram followers.

“I not only believe in, but have always worked hard to use my platform to fight for inclusion, kindness, tolerance, equity and equality,” she said.

[[{“fid”:”234718″,”view_mode”:”original_image”,”fields”:{“format”:”original_image”,”alignment”:””,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:false,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:false,”field_url[und][0][value]”:”Instagram”,”field_free_html[und][0][value]”:””,”field_free_html[und][0][format]”:”full_html”},”link_text”:null,”type”:”media”,”field_deltas”:{“2”:{“format”:”original_image”,”alignment”:””,”field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]”:false,”field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]”:false,”field_url[und][0][value]”:”Instagram”,”field_free_html[und][0][value]”:””,”field_free_html[und][0][format]”:”full_html”}},”attributes”:{“height”:910,”width”:580,”class”:”media-element file-original-image”,”data-delta”:”2″}}]]