Another day, another Taylor Swift feud.
For weeks, rumors have been swirling of behind-the-scenes friction between Swift and Billie Eilish, with eagle-eyed fans highlighting a series of perceived slights between the two mega-stars.
Now it seems we finally have proof that the ‘beef’ is not just imagined.
‘Industry insiders aren’t blind to the fact that Taylor is weaponizing her fans and that Billie appears to be the latest victim in that campaign,’ a source close to Eilish, 22, exclusively told DailyMail.com.
‘Whenever Taylor feels jealous of a peer’s success, she does all she can to make sure her fans start vicious online campaigns to bring that person down without ever telling them to stop. And all while operating under the guise of being America’s sweetheart,’ the insider added.
For weeks, rumors have been swirling of behind-the-scenes friction between Swift and Billie Eilish, with eagle-eyed fans highlighting a series of perceived slights between the two mega-stars.
Now it seems we finally have proof that the ‘beef’ is not just imagined. ‘Industry insiders aren’t blind to the fact that Taylor is weaponizing her fans and that Billie appears to be the latest victim in that campaign,’ a source close to Eilish exclusively told DailyMail.com.
The explosive claims come after Swift, 34, and Eilish have both released new albums in recent months, sparking a fierce battle for the top of the charts, with Billie said to be the focus of increased attacks by Taylor’s fans online.
Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ has maintained the No.1 position on Billboard’s album rankings since its release on April 19.
However, some critics have suggested that Swift has only kept it there in part by periodically releasing variant and extended editions to keep sales and streaming figures high.
In total, Swift has now put out over 20 variants of TTPD.
That she dropped two of these ‘special’ editions the same day as Eilish released her new album ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ last month was perceived by many as an attempt to trample the competition.
The move even prompted Eilish’s manager Danny Rukasin to re-share – and then later delete – a tweet accusing Swift of ‘breaking her neck doing everything to prevent other artists from shining’.
The tweet implied Swift had similarly timed releases in the past to hinder artists such as Katy Perry and SZA.
But it’s not just Swift’s perceived gaming of the charts that appears to have rattled Eilish.
Back in March, Eilish hit out at ‘wasteful’ artists who make ‘f***ing 40 different vinyl packages […] just to get you to keep buying more.’
Swift currently has 11 different vinyl albums for sale on her site – and though Eilish insisted she wasn’t ‘singling anyone out’, fans quickly made the link, with many Swifties attacking her for the statement.
None of which was helped by further comments Eilish made last month, first slamming songs that are obviously aimed at an individual as ‘frustrating’ (Swift is known for her many breakup and ‘diss’ tracks directed at her exes, enemies and former friends), and then saying that artists who performed ‘three-hour shows’ – like Swift’s ongoing Eras Tour – were ‘literally psychotic… nobody wants that.’
The explosive claims come after Swift, 34, and Eilish have both released new albums in recent months, sparking a fierce battle for the top of the charts.
Swift dropped two of ‘special’ editions of her album the same day as Eilish released her new record ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ last month. It was perceived by many as an attempt to trample the competition.
For her part, sources close to Eilish suggest that she doesn’t want a public rift, and that she is now a victim of unwarranted online attacks by Swift’s fans.
‘Billie doesn’t want anything to do with a “feud”, she’s not interested in the drama, and she’s done nothing to provoke it whatsoever,’ an insider said. ‘At a time when Billie is doing so well, there is no reason for her to become involved in any kind of beef.’
Some have suggested that ructions between the pair actually date back to January 2022, when Blur frontman Damon Albarn bashed Swift in an LA Times interview, wildly claiming that she ‘doesn’t write her own songs’ and comparing her to Eilish who he said was a ‘really interesting songwriter’.
Albarn later apologized, but not before Swift clapped back, saying his ‘hot take is completely false and SO damaging’.
The argument could have ended there but, in April 2022, Eilish made a surprise move that may have angered Swift when she invited Albarn to join her onstage during her headline set at Coachella.
While they were performing, an unidentified man – that some fans have claimed was Eilish’s brother, Finneas O’Connell – could be heard on the concert livestream saying: ‘We’re getting sued by Taylor Swift.’
Certainly, Swift is known for her lengthy feuds and long-held grudges – from Kim Kardashian, to Scooter Braun and Karlie Kloss.
‘This is not the first time that Taylor’s fans have been used to pull someone down when their success is seen to be encroaching on hers,’ an Eilish insider said.
‘If she is really such a nice girl like she wants everyone to believe then why doesn’t she speak out and stop her fans from attacking people on her behalf?’
Swift and Kardashian have traded blows for some 15 years now, after Swift first fell out with Kim’s then-husband Kanye West in their infamous on-stage spat at the 2009 VMA Awards.
Swift clearly hasn’t moved on – pointedly including a ‘diss’ track song in TTPD titled ‘thanK you aIMee’ (the capitalized letters notably spelling out ‘Kim’).
Certainly, Swift is known for her lengthy feuds and long-held grudges – from Kim Kardashian (pictured), to Scooter Braun and Karlie Kloss.
‘This is not the first time that Taylor’s fans have been used to pull someone down when their success is seen to be encroaching on hers,’ an Eilish insider said. (Pictured: Swift with Kloss in 2014).
Swift’s 2014 hit ‘Bad Blood’ is widely believed to be about Katy Perry, written after the pair allegedly quarreled over Perry ‘stealing’ Swift’s backing dancers.
Her ongoing battle with Scooter Braun is also no secret. Braun purchased Swift’s masters in 2019 in a deal that she says she had no control over – even being told she couldn’t herself outbid Braun’s offer.
Swift has publicly condemned Braun on several occasions, even using an acceptance speech at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards to slam him as ‘the definition of the toxic male privilege in our industry’.
And then there’s her fall-out with her former best friend, supermodel Karlie Kloss.
The exact details of why the relationship collapsed have never been made clear, but Kloss appeared to move out of Swift’s $50 million New York City home – where she had her own bedroom – at some point in early 2018, with Swift also missing Kloss’s wedding that year.
Whoever Swift is rowing with, one thing is certain: her fans will have her back.
‘Swifties’ descended on Kloss after the model shared a photo of her and Katy Perry in February 2018, filling her Instagram comments section with hundreds of rat emojis.
‘All Taylor needs to do is encourage [her fans] to spread positive messages instead of trolling and bringing others down,’ an Eilish insider said.
So will Swift take the advice… or pen another ‘diss’ track?
