• Billie Eilish was recently photographed wearing a tight tank top and jogger shorts, a departure from the usual baggy clothes she wears in an active effort to prevent people from commenting on her body.
• However, tabloids quickly spread this photo around and people ended up body shaming her on Twitter. 
• Fans came to her defense, saying people should not critique anyone’s body or hold them to unrealistic standards. Some also pointed out that the world in general needs to normalize the fact that most people do not look like models.
• Billie posted a TikTok on her Instagram expressing a similar point of view. The TikTok was made by Chizi Duru, who said: “Y’all gotta start normalizing real bodies…Guts are normal…Instagram isn’t real.” 

Billie Eilish Gets Body Shamed

Billie Eilish fans are calling out body shamers who made comments about the singer after she was photographed wearing non-baggy clothing.

Eilish was essentially wearing the unofficial outfit of quarantine, a fitted tan tank top and comfy jogger shorts, while out and about in Los Angeles on Sunday.

While most people get away with wearing something like that every day, the young Grammy winner was met with a tabloid frenzy. Eilish has become known for wearing baggy clothes and has even said she wears looser outfits intentionally to prevent people from making unprovoked comments about her body.

Photos of her in the relaxed attire went viral and made headlines, with gossip magazines quick to gawk at the pictures. Body shamers soon followed with their remarks. One Twitter user said she had a “mid-30s wine mom body.”

Fans Slam Body Shamers

Elish’s fans quickly ran to her defense, slamming those who body shamed the 18-year-old. 

“There is nothing greater in this world than billie eilish being confident in her body,” one Twitter user wrote. 

“To anyone who is body shaming Billie Eilish please stop putting unrealistic beauty standards on women,” another fan said. “She doesn’t deserve that and no one else deserves that either.”

Many also pointed out the fact that offensive and uncalled for comments like that are what stop the young singer from usually wearing fitted clothing. 

Others called out tabloids for making a big story out of her wearing a normal casual outfit to begin with. 

Billie Eilish Responds Responds

Eilish eventually issued an indirect response on her Instagram Story Tuesday night by sharing a TikTok from influencer Chizi Duru.  

“Y’all gotta start normalizing real bodies, okay. Not everyone has a wagon behind them, okay,” Duru says in the video. “Guts are normal. They’re normal. Boobs sag, especially after breastfeeding. Instagram isn’t real.” 

Eilish also posted a video of her walking past her Grammy awards, which many thought was a subtle clapback to body shamers.

This is not the first time she has addressed body shaming and other remarks made around her appearance and wardrobe. During some of her concerts, Eilish has played a short video where she recites a spoken word poem about her experiences with her body image and the media. 

“Some people hate what I wear. Some people praise it,” she says in the video. “Some people use it to shame others. Some people use it to shame me.” 

“The body I was born with is it not what you wanted? If I wear what is comfortable I am not a woman,” she continues. “If I shed the layers I’m a slut. Though you’ve never seen my body, you still judge it and judge me for it. Why?” 

Some also shared this video as a reminder that body-shaming Eilish or anyone else is not okay. Her fans specifically pointed out that Eilish has been dealing with these kinds of issues for a long time and should not be subject to these repeated attacks. 

See what others are saying: (Cosmopolitan) (Uproxx) (Glamour)

• Kim Nam-Joon, the head of the K-pop group BTS who is better known as RM, made comments during the Korea Society’s 2020 Annual Gala that prompted a boycott against the band in China.
• Kim emphasized the role both the U.S. and South Korea played in the Korean War, saying, “We will always remember the history of pain that our two nations shared together and the sacrifices of countless men and women.”
• Chinese fans said the comments were insensitive and didn’t acknowledge the 200,000 Chinese who died fighting against South Korea during the war.
• Companies like Samsung and Hyundai have distanced themselves from the group in China, removing them from branding.

What Was Said?

The K-pop sensation BTS has found themselves facing boycott calls in China after group leader Kim Nam-joon, better known as RM, made what Chinese fans are calling insensitive comments.

The remarks causing outrage were made during the Korea Society’s 2020 Annual Gala earlier this month while the band was accepting the Van Fleet award.

“We are very honored to receive the Van Fleet Award, presented to those who have made outstanding contributions to the promotion of the relationships between Korea and the United States,” RM said at the ceremony.

“The Korea Society’s 2020 Annual Gala is especially meaningful, as this year marks the 70th anniversary of the Korean War,” he continued before adding, “We will always remember the history of pain that our two nations shared together and the sacrifices of countless men and women.”

Backlash and Boycott Calls Emerge

It may be unclear to Western audiences why those remarks were viewed as so inflammatory. The Korea Society is a U.S.-based non-profit that promotes the relationship between South Korea and the U.S., so it’s not surprising that BTS would make a comment like that given the event.

However, on Sunday, the clip went viral and reached #3 trending on Weibo, a Chinese website similar to Twitter, where people were clearly upset. The issue, in particular, was the fact that 200,000 Chinese “volunteers” died fighting for North Korea during the war.

Users on the platform wrote things like, “Nearly 200,000 Chinese troops died in the war. Every Chinese person must remember this number.”

Meanwhile, others equated being a fan of BTS to betraying one’s Chinese nationality. “If you still fan them, get out and change your nationality! There is nothing wrong with liking Korean idols, but if your idols insult your country, if you continue to fan, then you are not worthy of being a Chinese!” One user wrote on Weibo.

Many users wanted BTS to consider Chinese losses during the war, despite the fact that China fought against South Korea and saved its long-time nemesis North Korea during the conflict, directly leading to the 70-year cease-fire and today’s current political climate in the region.

On top of this, Chinese fans were critical of BTS seemingly playing favorites with Americans, with one writing, “Chinese fans give you so much money each year, and you turn around and give it to the United States. What are Chinese fans then?”

Most notably, there were call for boycotts. One user asked, “when will NetEase Cloud Music will remove the song of the anti-Chinese boy group BTS?”

State-run papers also waded into the drama. The hyper-nationalistic Global Times the headline: “BTS hurts feelings of Chinese netizens and fans during speech on the Korean War.” That same piece played up the controversy by calling RM’s comments “a one-sided attitude.”

Korean Companies Step back

The backlash was so large that Korean companies began to distance themselves from the group. Companies like Samsung pulled a BTS-branded smartphone and earbuds from its stores and Chinese website, while Hyundai Motor also removed any BTS branding from its Chinese ads.

Together those companies make up around 22% of South Korea’s GDP.

In the past U.S.-Korea relations have led to a major backlash with China, like in 2017 when the U.S. and Korea agreed to put THAAD missiles in Korea. The backlash led to an economic downturn in Korea after China started boycotting and banning certain activities with Korea. Tensions eventually cooled and economic trade returned to normal.

It’s unclear if the Chinese government will officially respond in a similar manner to the 2017 THAAD controversy. When asked about the new controversy on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian only said, “I have noted relevant reports as well as the reactions from the Chinese people online. I want to say that we all should learn lessons from history and look forward to the future, hold dear peace and strengthen friendship.”

Experts like John Delury, a Chinese studies professor at Yonsei University – one of the major universities in Korea, told The Washington Post that the Global Times seems to have had a role in whipping up anger.

Even if that was the case, the controversy has already had a real-world impact since removing BTS branding in China will likely hurt the band’s image in that market.

See What Others Are Saying: (BBC) (Yonhap News) (South China Morning Post)

• Actress Vanessa Hudgens posted photos of herself posing in front of tombstones at New York’s Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. She captioned one post, “Happy place.”
• Many slammed the photoshoot as disrespectful and tone-deaf, especially at a time when over 1 million people across the globe have died from coronavirus. 
• Hudgens defended her posts, saying cemeteries are beautiful and that this particular one is historical. Fans did the same, noting that this cemetery sees many tourists who take similar photos, especially around Halloween. 
• Still, others said this is another example of her inappropriately handling matters that have to do with death, pointing to an Instagram live stream from the start of the pandemic where she said: “like yeah, people are gonna die, which is terrible, but like, inevitable?”

Cemetery Photo Sparks Outrage 

Actress Vanessa Hudgens sparked a slew of outrage Saturday after posting photos of herself in front of tombstones in New York’s Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

“Happy place,” Hudgens wrote in the caption of her first post, along with a black heart emoji.

However, the actress quickly faced a ton of backlash for her photoshoot, with some calling it disrespectful and tone-deaf.

Others said this was especially insensitive to do at a time when over 1 million people have died from coronavirus worldwide, with over 215,000 of those deaths coming from the U.S. alone. 

Hudgens apparently caught wind of the outrage because she later changed the caption to say, “Searching for that headless horseman,” which is a nod to the mythical figure from the short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” 

View this post on Instagram

Searching for that headless horseman 😉🖤

A post shared by 🔮Vanessa Hudgens🔮 (@vanessahudgens) on Oct 10, 2020 at 3:39pm PDT

Hudgens Responds and Sees Support From Fans

Despite the criticism, she continued to post more pictures from her cemetery photo shoot, with one post captioned “Apple pickin season” and another captioned “What. A. Beautiful. Place.” 

View this post on Instagram

What. A beautiful. Place.

A post shared by 🔮Vanessa Hudgens🔮 (@vanessahudgens) on Oct 10, 2020 at 4:35pm PDT

However, those caused even more backlash to roll in.

“This is disrespectful. You’re prancing around like it’s some amusement park,” one critic commented. “The caption is just why? Clearly you have never been to a burial. It’s not a happy place for anyone.”

To that user, Hudgens responded with, “I buried my father in a cemetery. I love cemeteries. They’re beautiful. Especially that one. It’s historical and I love history.”

A lot of her fans agreed with that sentiment in the comments section.

Meanwhile, others noted that this particular cemetery is also a tourist attraction where it’s not uncommon to find people snapping photos, especially as we get closer to Halloween. Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is the final resting place of several of famous figures, including Washington Irving, who wrote “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”

Even under the hashtag #SleepyHollowCemetery, there are other examples of people posing in the area. 

Frustrations Linger From Past Coronavirus Comments 

It seems like opinions on these types of photoshoots range. Still, it’s also worth noting that many people have lingering frustrations with the actress because of the insensitive comments she made about coronavirus earlier this year.

Back in March, when the virus first began forcing businesses to shut down, she downplayed the situation and expressed doubts about closures lasting until July. 

“Um, yeah, till July sounds like a bunch of bulls—, I’m sorry,” she said in an Instagram live stream.

“Like, it’s a virus. I get it, like, I respect it. But at the same time, like, even if everybody gets it, like yeah, people are gonna die, which is terrible, but like, inevitable? I don’t know. Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this.”

Outraged internet users called the remarks dangerous and disgusting, eventually prompting her to apologize, so with this latest controversy, many are saying this is just another example of her inappropriately handling matters that have to do with death.