Billie Eilish and Jesse Rutherford are facing backlash for their Halloween costumes amid concern surrounding the rumoured couple’s 11-year age difference.
Over the weekend, the 20-year-old singer and 31-year-old singer were both spotted dressed in Halloween costumes. In one photo shared by PopCrave on Twitter, Eilish could be seen wearing a baby costume, which included a large pink hat and white tights. A separate photo also showed Rutherford and his friend taking a selfie while dressed up as old men.
As the photos circulated on social media, fans were quick to suggest that the costumes appeared to be the rumoured couple’s way of poking fun at their age gap, prompting many to criticise Rutherford and Eilish for the costumes in light of the continued concern over their differences in age.
“Something about the Jesse Rutherford and Billie Eilish couples costume is NOT sitting right with me,” one person tweeted.
Another wrote: “Hoping they didn’t do this for the reason I think they did...”
A third person claimed: “Billie is grown [up] enough to know how weird and creepy this is btw.”
The rumoured couple’s costumes were also described by many as “weird,” with one person suggesting the outfit choices were a “weird way to ‘get back at people” for expressing concern over their age gap.
However, other fans expressed amusement over the costumes and defended the pair from some of the online criticism they have faced.
“I mean they’re trolling the people that are having an unnecessary opinion about their relationship,” one person responded. “So in a way you’re proving their point and making their joke even funnier.”
Eilish and Rutherford first sparked relationship rumours last week, when they were seen kissing outside of a restaurant in Los Angeles. Three days earlier, the pair was also spotted holding hands at Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights. However, neither of them have yet to publicly confirm if they’re in a relationship.
After it was reported the pair appear to be dating, fans took to social media to criticise their age gap, with some even claiming that Rutherford has supposedly known Eilish since she was 15 and he was 26 years old, as they were photographed together in 2017.
When contacted by The Independent, a representative for Eilish declined to comment. The Independent has contacted a representative for Rutherford for comment.