Billie Eilish Discusses Abandonment Issues and the Pain of Being Ghosted
3 min readBillie Eilish, the critically acclaimed singer known for her hits like “Bad Guy” and “Ocean Eyes,” recently opened up about her struggles with abandonment issues and a painful ghosting experience. During her appearance on the BBC’s Miss Me? podcast, hosted by Lily Allen and Miquita Olive, the 22-year-old artist shared candid insights into the challenges she faces in maintaining friendships amid her meteoric rise to fame.
Reflecting on her early days of stardom, Eilish revealed how becoming famous dramatically affected her social life. “I lost all of my friends when I got famous. I suddenly was famous and I couldn’t relate to anybody. It was tough. It was really hard,” she stated. The sudden isolation and inability to connect with people from her past left her grappling with profound loneliness.
Eilish also recounted a particularly distressing ghosting incident that occurred last December, which she described as “literally unbelievable.” She explained, “I’ve been ghosted for sure. To this day, [he] never texted me again. I was like, did you die? Did you literally die?” The person involved was someone Eilish had known for years, and they had planned to meet at her place at 3 pm. However, he never showed up, and she later discovered he was dating someone else. The incident left her feeling bewildered and hurt, as she couldn’t believe such behavior still happened.
The Miss Me? podcast episode provided a platform for Eilish to discuss how losing friends and dealing with ghosting incidents have impacted her mental health. She highlighted that only her best friend Zoe remained by her side, while other friends were mostly her employees. One incident that stood out was on her 20th birthday, when she found herself surrounded by employees significantly older than her. To make matters worse, one of her employees quit and cut off communication with her. “And it was the worst thing that happened to me. And that made me realize like ‘oh wait, this is a job.’ If they left me they would never see me again,” Eilish shared, acknowledging how this event deepened her abandonment issues.
These experiences have made it challenging for Eilish to form close relationships with people she works with. She admitted to being “very freaked out by loss” and having significant abandonment problems. Despite these struggles, the “NDA” singer has been working on building friendships over the years. She credited Lily Allen’s song “Smile” as an inspiration in this journey. The lyrics, “But with a little help from my friends / I found the light in the tunnel at the end,” resonated deeply with her, motivating her to seek and value genuine connections.
Eilish shared that she has since reconnected with some old friends and now has a supportive “crew,” which she considers the “greatest thing” that has happened to her. This newfound support system has been instrumental in helping her navigate the complexities of fame and personal relationships.
Through her heartfelt revelations on the Miss Me? podcast, Billie Eilish not only highlighted the personal challenges she faces but also provided a relatable narrative for many dealing with similar issues of abandonment and friendship in the digital age.