Photo Illustration by Erin O’Flynn/The Daily Beast/@billieeilish/Instagram
Billie Eilish is one of those celebrities who genuinely can be called a wunderkind. At 20 years old, the artist has two chart-topping albums, multiple Grammys, an Oscar, several Nike collabs, and a very nice-smelling perfume. She’s also got some extremely dedicated fans; my Instagram Explore page is made up almost entirely of Eilish stan accounts, which share every single photo of Eilish in existence and sometimes Photoshop her face onto other people. (I don’t follow these people and did not ask for this to happen to me, I swear.)
Those same fans weren’t so stoked about the latest photos Eilish posted, however. Over Halloween weekend, Eilish went to a party—dressed as a baby. This was not in the apparent spirit of Taylor Swift’s “sexy baby,” mind you; Eilish was a diaper-donning, bib-and-bonnet-wearing infant. Well, to be precise, her costume was more “baby doll” than “poopy diaper baby,” thanks to her over-the-top makeup. In other words, the costume was bold, but nowhere on the level of Heidi Klum’s hauntingly realistic worm costume or anything. And who am I, a woman whose annual Halloween costume is a skull-print shirt, to judge?
I leave the judgment to the Eilish diehards instead, who saw the costume as not just a choice, but a choice. It wasn’t just that 20-year-old Eilish was owning her youth with an on-the-noise costume. It was that her date, The Neighborhood frontman Jesse Rutherford, was dressed like an old man—a seemingly pointed, brutal nose-thumbing at critics of their romantic relationship.