Seventeen-year-old singer Billie Eilish has hit out at a German magazine for using an image without her consent.
Altering the image to make Eilish bald and shirtless, she slammed Nylon Germany for not having permission to use her image "in any way" and publishing what was "‘not even a real picture" of her.
The singer was altered to look like an avatar for the now withdrawn cover, intended to draw attention to "digital prodigy artists".
The 17-year-old discovered that her image had been used after a picture of the cover was posted on Instagram. She replied, saying: "What the f*ck is this sh*t."
She commented beneath the post: "i was never approached by nylon about this piece whatsoever. i did not know it was happening nor did anyone on my team. this is not even a real picture of me. i had absolutely no creative input [sic]."
Billie explained in her #MYCALVINS campaign: "I never want the world to know everything about me. I mean that's why I wear big, baggy clothes. Nobody can have an opinion because they haven't seen what's underneath you know?
"Nobody can be like 'oh she's slim thick, she's not slim thick, she's got a flat ass, she's got a fat ass'. No-one can say any of that because they don't know."
Eilish was particularly enraged that the cover implied she was topless, adding: "youre gonna make a picture of me shirtless?? thats [sic] not real?? at 17? and make it the cover???? [sic]"
The singer has previously stated that she deliberately wears baggy clothes because she does not want to be sexualized.
However, despite being open about why she wears loose fitted clothes, the singer has found herself constantly having to justify this decision, something she believes is entire because of her gender. She told NME "nobody would bat an eye" if she was a man.
After Eilish hit out at the magazine, they withdrew the cover and issued the following statement: "We as NYLON Germany value and stand for artistic freedom, but we also respect the feelings of @billieeilish and her fandom. We are fans ourselves. Therefore we decided to remove our second cover of Billie Eilish."
"For this cover, it was never our intention to create a look that is confusing or insulting to Billie. It was only ever our intention to honor her impact by creating this avatar, which is part of a cover series highlighting the power of digital prodigy artists."
The American edition of the magazine has subsequently made it clear that it has no affiliation with its German counterpart. The Guardian reported they are a "different company" who "strongly disagree" with the decisions that led to Eilish being used on the cover without her consent.
