Billie Eilish has revealed she was “ghosted” by a man she had known for years.
The singer-songwriter, 22, hasn’t dated anybody publicly since confirming her split from indie musician Jesse Rutherford, 32, in May 2023. In a new interview, Eilish said she was horrified by the dating practise.
Ghosting means to cease contact with a friend or romantic interest without warning – a ruthless move Eilish said she “genuinely didn’t know” people really did, until it happened to her.
In a special episode of Lily Allen and Miquita Oliver’s podcast Miss Me?, Eilish answered listeners’ questions around the theme of ghosts, prompting her to detail the romantic shock.
“I’ve been ghosted for sure,” she said of the “literally unbelievable” incident that took place last December.
“To this day, [he] never texted me again. I was like, did you die? Did you literally die?” she continued.
“It was somebody that I’d also known for years and had a plan, the day of, on the phone, making a plan, this is my address, be there at 3pm – never heard from him again. Even. I couldn’t believe it.”
The “Lunch” hitmaker added she later saw the man was dating someone else. “I was like ‘oh’. But I didn’t know people still did that. I genuinely didn’t know people did that,” she said.
“What a f***ing little pathetic man. What a tiny little man.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the singer revealed she lost all her friends when she shot to fame upon the release of her first album. When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? came out when Eilish was just 17 years old.
“I lost all of my friends when I got famous,” she said. “Literally all except one. My best friend Zoe who I’ve been friends with since I was like two. She is still my girl.
“But she’s pretty much the only person that remained. I suddenly was famous and I couldn’t relate to anybody. It was tough. It was really hard.”
Oliver then asked her whether she tried to call those people up when she got back from tour, only to find they weren’t answering.
“I tried but I think I felt resentful that I didn’t feel… Like I don’t know I was so young,” Eilish responded, revealing that she realised all her “friends” were in fact her employees, in one moment at her 20th birthday.
“I remember looking around the room and it was only people that I employ,” she said. “And all 15 years or more older than me. And then, one of my best friends, who worked with me, quit. Out of the blue and didn’t talk to me. And it was the worst thing that happened to me.”
Miss Me? is available every Monday and Thursday on BBC Sounds.
