Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan stir debate as they face 'queerbaiting' accusations

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan are at the center of a heated online debate as they continue to be accused of "queerbaiting," a media and marketing practice of hinting at non-heterosexual relationships or attraction to engage or attract an LGBTQ+ audience.

The allegations emerged on X (formerly Twitter), with a user criticizing the pop artists for identifying as bisexual or implying same-sex attraction in their work despite only publicly dating men, as reported by Mirror.

What is this whole 'queerbaiting' backlash all about?

The X user’s post included a collage of the three artists, alongside claims that their expressions of queer identity were insincere. Referencing Billie Eilish, the individual noted her dating history, which features only men, and alleged that her statements about loving women lacked authenticity.

Similar accusations were directed at Carpenter and Roan, with criticism of their artistic choices, such as the 'Espresso' artist's music video kiss with Jenna Ortega.

"Straight female artists who never dated a woman yet still pretend to be bisexual just to exploit the LGBTQ+ community," read the caption of the post. 

They accompanied the post with a collage featuring popular singers like Eilish, Carpenter, Roan, Ice Spice, and Miley Cyrus, many of whom have expressed attraction to women despite not having publicly dated one.

Queerbaiting, involves creators claiming to be part of the LGBTQ+ community or expressing interest in same-sex relationships, without actually portraying such relationships in their personal lives.

The tactic often includes actions like kissing someone of the same gender, sharing misleading "coming out" stories, or falsely claiming to be in a same-sex relationship. The goal is typically to attract attention from LGBTQ+ audiences or capitalize on the trend without offering authentic representation.

Internet divided over 'queerbaiting' accusations against Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, and Chappell Roan

Addressing Billie Eilish's sexuality, the X user pointed out, "First of all let's start with Billie's full dating history that is known to the public. Billie has dated XXXTENTACION, rapper Brandon Quentin Adams, Matthew Tyler Vorce, and Jesse Rutherford from the neighborhood . All MEN"

They further claimed, "After dating men her whole life she goes to Magazines and lie saying she's loved women her whole life, yet when we look at her dating history she never dated any woman and every time Billie is asked ab the topic she gets defensive saying 'its things i want to keep private.'"

About Roan, they alleged, "I mean whole her life she was straight and was dating men until recently (after her rise to fame) she decided that she wanted to become a lesbian bc it was gonna benefit her..."

Supporters of the artists quickly pushed back, arguing that bisexuality and queer identity do not require a track record of same-sex relationships to be valid. Fans pointed out that personal identity is not defined by public dating history, labeling the accusations as both intrusive and reductive.

"Once yall understand sexuality is fluid and get RID of these labels that box everyone in, you’ll be so much happier," one wrote, while another added, "Just cause they ‘haven’t dated a woman’ doesn’t mean they aren’t part of the lgbt. that’s about their preferences, not their past."

"Sabrina CLEARLY stated she’s straight. Kissing a girl in a mv isn’t queerbaiting. Chappell obviously dated girls but it doesn’t have to be public information Miley did date a girl too," another user stated.

"How about we not care about anyones sexuality," one more wrote.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.