A huge charity donation from Billie Eilish has left fans a little confused as to where the money came from after ‘changemaker’ tickets for her tour.
She’s been applauded for donating $11,500,000 (£8,752,650) from her Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour to various charities.
While on stage accepting her award at the Wall Street Journal Innovator Awards, Billie, 23, took aim at the billionaires in the room.
‘If you have money, it would be great to use it for good things and maybe give it to some people that need it,’ the Birds of a Feather singer said.
‘Love you all, but there’s a few people in here that have a lot more money than me. If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but give your money away, shorties.’
People in the room included filmmaker George Lucas and the Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is the third richest person in the world.
Billie’s comments initially garnered praise from fans, having previously donated 10,000 pants and bras to I Support the Girls with Charli XCX.
This new donation from her tour will go towards charities supporting food equity, climate justice, and reducing carbon pollution.
However, backlash bubbled when fans noted that while Billie’s speech urged billionaires to give up their own wealth, the money didn’t appear to have come from her own funds.
Billie’s net worth is an estimated $50million (£38million) for her music, brand deals, and other business ventures.
Instead, it’s believed a large portion of the money came from fans willing to pay extra at her tour — which she did not mention in her speech.
When buying tickets to her Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour, there was an option to pay more with the proceeds going to charity, called a ‘changemaker’ ticket.
Fans could choose to pay extra for better seats at her tour and also donate £151 of that ticket to the Changemaker Programme.
Now, in the wake of Billie’s speech, some have pointed out this isn’t the best look for the Bury a Friend hitmaker.
‘Wait what 😭😭😭 she charged her fans extra and she is claiming it as a donation as if she made it from her own pocket and personal gain,’ imalltoowell wrote.
Vortexglitter said: ‘I fully support that artists need to make enough to pay for the show (their teams, drivers, catering, etc etc etc) and at least break even, and that will look different for most artists. But it’s a diff when they scream “I’m generous! Look what I did!” vs “hey, let’s fundraise”‘
‘Billie Eilish’s “groundbreaking” and “charitable” donation to “combat climate change” did not come from her own pocket. It was sourced from an extra charge she imposed on her tour tickets. She is being celebrated for money her own fans spent from their own hard work,’ agreed filmsbyJuan.
For the majority of people online, the issue appeared to be with Billie not thanking fans for donating, instead using her platform to call out billionaires.
It has not been made public how much of the $11.5million came from ticket sales compared to personal donations from the artist herself.
However, others pointed out that it was still a huge charity donation, regardless of the source.
‘Billie Eilish donated 11.5M Dollar to food inequity and climate changes and asked richer people to do the same and people here are… hating?’ wrote OxytocinDAVID.
Metro has reached out to Billie’s team for comment.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
