Taylor Swift has ignited controversy among fans of Billie Eilish by unexpectedly releasing three new digital versions of her latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department” (TTPD), on the same day as Eilish’s third studio album, “Hit Me Hard and Soft.”
On Thursday, May 16, the 34-year-old “Cruel Summer” singer announced the release of three new variants of TTPD. Each version includes a “first draft phone memo” of a song from the album, which originally dropped on April 19. The voice memos, featuring “The Black Dog,” “Cassandra,” and “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” require fans to purchase all three variants to collect the exclusive content.
Swift’s release date coincided with the highly anticipated album launch of 22-year-old Billie Eilish, leading to an outcry from Eilish’s fans. Many accused Swift of attempting to overshadow Eilish’s new music.
“The same day as Billie’s release … and y’all swear that Taylor is a girl’s girl,” one fan wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“I loved Taylor Swift but this is not done. So bad of her for trying to block young artists like Billie Eilish,” another tweeted.
“How convenient she’s doing this on the day another big artist is releasing her new album,” a third fan commented.
Some speculated that Swift’s move was a reaction to Eilish’s earlier comments about the wastefulness of releasing multiple vinyl album variants. Eilish had criticized the practice in a March 28 Billboard interview, noting its environmental impact without directly naming Swift.
“Billie’s statement about artists releasing 40 vinyl packages to get people to buy more really got into her… doing this on her album release day is so nasty,” one person tweeted.
Eilish later clarified her comments via Instagram Stories on March 31, stating, “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. And 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.”
Despite the backlash, Swift has not yet responded to the criticism. Fans of both artists are left to wonder whether the timing was intentional or merely coincidental.
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