Billie Eilish clarifies whether vinyl packaging criticism was aimed at Taylor Swift

Singer asked people to ‘stop putting words in my mouth’

Billie Eilish has clarified that she did not intend to criticise Taylor Swift when she spoke out about wasteful vinyl packaging, saying: “I wasn’t singling anyone out, these are industry-wide systemic issues.”

The 22-year-old singer-songwriter made headlines last week after calling out artists who release multiple versions of their albums in different packaging, saying the practice is environmentally harmful.

“Some of the biggest artists in the world [are] making f***ing 40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more,” Eilish told Billboard. “It’s so wasteful.”

Some Swift fans believed that Eilish was specifically targeting the “Love Story” singer, 34, who dominates the vinyl sales charts. Last year, one in every 15 vinyl sales in the US was a Swift record.

Eilish responded to the backlash in a post on Instagram, writing: “Okay so it would be so awesome if people would stop putting words into my mouth and actually read what I said in that Billboard article.

“I wasn’t singling anyone out, these are industry-wide systemic issues. & when it comes to variants, so many artists release them, including ME! Which I clearly state in the article.

“The climate crisis is now and it’s about all of us being part of the problem and trying to do better sheesh.”

Billie Eilish (left) and Taylor Swift (Getty)

Eilish has been one of the music industry’s most outspoken campaigners on sustainability issues for some time.

Last year, she helped launch and fund ­Reverb’s Music Decarbonization Project, which aims to eliminate carbon emissions created by the music industry.

Eilish’s recent Happier Than Ever tour served only plant-based meals to artists and crew, and she partially powered her headline set at Chicago’s Lollapalooza by setting up a temporary “solar farm” on the festival site.

In the same interview with Billboard, Eilish said she’s particularly proud of using her influence to convince fashion house Oscar de la Renta to end their use of animal fur.

“The one that was seen by the most people was getting Oscar de la Renta to stop using fur when they made me a dress for the Met [Gala],” she said.

“That was really important to me. It’s tough as a person who loves fashion. I’ve tried to be a big advocate of no animal products in clothing and it’s hard. People really like classic things. I get it, I’m one of them. But what’s more important: things being original or our kids being able to live on the planet and them having kids?”