Last November, Billie Eilish gushed to Vanity Fair about her then-boyfriend, Jesse Rutherford, whom she split from in May.
“I’m really happy about it. I managed to get my way to a point in my life where I not only was known by a person that I thought was the hottest f*ckin’ f*cker alive, but pulled his ass,” the 21-year-old phenom said about the 32-year-old The Neighbourhood singer last fall. “Are we kidding me? Can we just [claps] — round of applause for me. Thank you. Jesse Rutherford, everyone. I pulled his ass, all me. I did that sh*t. I locked that motherf*cker down.”
There was public critique about Eilish and Rutherford’s age difference, which Finneas promptly dismissed, but some think that Rutherford weaponized it in his new solo song, “POV.”
To start, Rutherford (as Jesse®) sings, “I’m at the top, you’re at the bottom,” and someone on X (formerly known as Twitter) accurately pointed out that very few people can claim to be above Eilish in terms of popularity, and that list does not include Rutherford.
“i’m at the top youre at the bottom” is a wild lyric when billie is literally more popular than him at this point lmaooooo, no one likes u anymore jesse ur literally irrelevant https://t.co/rAThxcbKbM
— baby emo juice (@ch4rliesux) August 19, 2023
“She been listening to me since 2013 / I know she’s got daddy issues, welcome to the family,” Rutherford sings in the second verse (as chronicled by Genius). “She said, ‘Jesse, baby, won’t you write a song about me?’ / I said, ‘I got a whole album, I could drop it next week.’”
Again, Eilish fans and the general public alike didn’t take kindly to the distasteful remarks they believe are aimed at her.
just bc billie is “ok” with what jesse wrote about her (hope she realizes soon that it’s not) doesn’t mean it’s morally ok or we should ignore it.. the lyrics remains disgusting and irritating he is a walking red flag and what he did is unacceptable
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(@billieilishhome) August 19, 2023
jesse rutherford needs to be locked up cus wtf are those lyrics ab billie
— ebba (@ebbaoftheweek) August 20, 2023
the lyrics that jesse wrote referring to billie:
billie in the streams of the songs that I wrote
i watch her sleep feel at peace
if I want it i gotta have it
she’s only 21 savage but she’s a bad bitch
i just got a text from billie eilish— venus is billie’s wifey (@venuscomett) August 18, 2023
when i first read this i thought it said the lyrics were Billie’s. i deadass was concerned about her writing skills….turns out it’s jesse’s song- anyways this song is ass and he’s a predator https://t.co/1au25olKqj
— tegan.mp3 (@tegan_teagun) August 19, 2023
jesse rutherford mentioning that billie eilish was listening to him in 2013 is so fucking weird when you remember that she was 11 years old then
— magnetopilled (@magnetonlyfans) August 18, 2023
he was 21 years old then too like that’s so gross
— magnetopilled (@magnetonlyfans) August 18, 2023
i don’t even like billie like that but jesse rutherford taking advantage of her and then using her name in a song for money literally right after the song for barbie is literally so sickening
— lillet (@lillet_tv) August 19, 2023
I can’t believe jesse rutherford said this about billie eilish… so we can all agree the baby costume was HIS idea right? pic.twitter.com/fMRpkHcLih
— tv freak (@schizokenic) August 18, 2023
For what it’s worth, Eilish addressed her and Rutherford’s breakup while answering fan questions on her Instagram Story last week. She said she’s not dating anyone (“NO SIRRRRRR”) and noted that she’s “very very good friends only” with Rutherford, adding, “My homie forever.”
In May, an Eilish representative confirmed to various outlets that Eilish and Rutherford “split amicably and remain good friends” and denied any rumors that infidelity was the cause.
“POV” is included on Rutherford’s recently released &ONE project.