Fame is a double-edged sword. Having your work appreciated and loved by millions of people around the world has to be a special feeling, but having that level of notoriety can change your relationship with the world and not always for the better. That’s something Billie Eilish has experienced first-hand, and she actually remembers the moment she got too famous to feel comfortable going out in public.
In a new V Magazine feature, Eilish discusses going to therapy in 2020 and reflecting on her life. During the process, Eilish pin-pointed the moment she stopped feeling comfortable out in public due to her fame. It happened when she was 16 years old, going ice skating with a friend in Los Angeles after touring for three months. She noted of the experience:
“It was a nightmare and it scared the living hell out of me, because I was just turned into this prop. I’ve never been so scared. It was like, a huge stampede… in those three months, I’d gotten bigger, but I didn’t know it until I was in that situation. From that day on, I didn’t go anywhere. I didn’t do anything. I was so flipped out by what had happened and how powerless I felt. And I didn’t have security because I didn’t have the money for it. I was the level of fame that needs security, but also the level of fame where you don’t really have the resources.”
Read the full feature here.