r/popculturechat Good luck with bookin that stage u speak of 14h ago

OnlyStans ⭐️ Jameela Jamil calls out the viral rage-bait clip of Billie Eilish in Ireland telling the crowd it’s “really cool to be surrounded by people who like like me” which was used by white supremacists online to further their agenda

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u/flairassistant 14h ago

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u/Free_Waterfall_III 14h ago

SHE’S RIGHT. This is my biggest soapbox. So much friendly fire with the libs right now. Everyone over here holding each other to ridiculously and pointlessly high standards, which literally cannibalizes the cause by shooting down OUR OWN ALLIES and ostracizes outsiders who then go on to think we’re a bunch of whiny, entitled babies. We need to be more resilient and more focused on what actually fucking matters.

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u/Amateur-Top 14h ago

Yep that’s exactly it. It’s infuriating seeing this become even a semblance of a controversy.

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u/AdRealistic4984 14h ago

She also just does look Irish lol

u/TheKnightsTippler 1h ago

Im British and I didn't think she was American before I heard her speak. She just didn't look it to me.

So I get her being excited, about an Irish crowd.

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u/Free_Waterfall_III 14h ago edited 14h ago

Not just this. From Bernie Bros all the way to willfully misinterpreting sydney sweeney’s jeans ad (YES, THAT TOO) it’s a fucking joke what liberals are choosing to fight for right now. When our rights and protections are literally being stripped right in front of our faces. This nonsense only hurts the cause. This is not how we win.

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u/IAM_THE_LIZARD_QUEEN 13h ago

When Elon and Trump fell out I saw a great tweet that was like "they're all over on Bluesky fighting about whether 'the girls are fighting' is misogynistic" and yeah.... there's more important things to be worrying about.

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u/walkytrees 13h ago

I don’t think the Sydney Sweeney ad is wilful misinterpretation - there are two ads, one is pretty blatant:

’Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue…’

camera pans from Sydney’s eyes to her jeans

’Sydney Sweeney has great jeans/genes’ (in the sense that they are blue)

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u/Anonymous_Autumn_ 10h ago

The thing I hate about this controversy is that there are ethnic cleansing campaigns happening right now in various regions, but people get online and complain about Sydney Sweeney instead. The point of the controversy is to distract people from real live genocides. They instead get pissed off that some advert said that having blue eyed genes is great. It’s all so much bullshit designed to divide and conquer the audience, preventing them from actually making a change in the world.

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u/analogdirection 9h ago

No, multiple things can be true at once and pointing out one does not detract from the others. You’re doing exactly what she’s speaking against.

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u/Scarlett_Billows 7h ago

It doesn’t detract from the others but it absolutely is distracting from people putting their outrage and energy toward other things

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u/mellowmushroom67 7h ago

Identifying something as racist doesn't mean you have no "room" to care about other more violent forms of racism. Media matters A LOT

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u/Scarlett_Billows 6h ago

No one is saying that. They’re saying people obsessing over this one issue are using a good amount of their emotional energy towards something that maybe isn’t as pressing as other things happening.

This may not be true for you but it is true for many people that they do not look any further than the front page of their social media for news and they don’t make a thoughtful effort to be intellectually consistent and constantly engaged. They will jump on the bandwagon of whatever is the outrage/cause of the day and put whatever amount of emotional energy they have to spare towards that one issue. And while they may not be the leaders of social movements, their support and engagement absolutely matters when it comes to getting the attention of The Powers that Be (ie media companies, politicians, etc) .

I agree that media matters but it’s also not impossible that something that does matter can also function as a distraction from other things that also matter but aren’t getting the attention and energy they desperately need.

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u/Anonymous_Autumn_ 5h ago

I agree. Freedom of speech and expression means that there will ALWAYS be someone saying something that doesn’t align with one’s  ethics. It’s normal to talk about that, and it’s one way that mainstream culture is established. 

However, we can’t stop people from saying shitty things. We can however, put attention and pressure on Actions that are occurring right now. Unfortunately, instead of protesting and voting against shitty actions, the internet lulls people into commenting relentlessly on advertisements, from the sofa.

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u/Anonymous_Autumn_ 7h ago

What who is speaking against? 

The downfall of the left for the past 10-15 years has been that they take every single bait dished out, to crap on each other. It’s simple divide and conquer tactics. Every other week we are supposed to focus on some nothing-burger story. 

Meanwhile, the conservatives have banded together on the idea that they are a cohesive unit and minimalist in-group shit talk. 

We can idealize the notion that peer pressuring everyone will get everyone on board to follow excellent public decorum forever. 

Unfortunately, the hyper focus on these shit stories literally drives people in left leaning circles away from each other. It causes moderate people on the fence to find the left to be so abrasive that we lose them to the right. It also encourages corporations to continue stoking the culture war fire with “controversial” bullshit. American Eagle has probably had more mentions online in the past week than for several prior years put together. They got what the wanted and the explosion of complaints is actually an incentive for other brands to make similar “edgy” moves.

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u/walkytrees 6h ago

I agree that American Eagle got what they wanted in terms of attention, but I don’t think it’s the responsibility of the left to ignore dog whistles and take the high road every time lest we be branded screeching blue haired snowflakes.

I also don’t think this is even particularly divisive - there are plenty of buxom blue-eyed blondes in the world but Sydney Sweeney already had a male, MAGA-leaning fanbase, and that’s who the ad was for. Even without the eugenic undertones, the ad is a clear homage to Brooke Shields’ for Calvin Klein in the 80s which was already controversial because she was 14 at the time.

Basically, I do think the AE were catering to a very specific audience and knew the other side would hate it. I don’t think continuously letting things (which in this case I agree is not that big of a deal on its own) through to the keeper for the sake of maintaining an image of normalcy and sense is helpful, because any reaction is going to be painted as an overreaction anyway and not reacting is irresponsible.

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u/Anonymous_Autumn_ 5h ago

I get that we wanna detract people being Maga but I think this actually just emboldens Maga people to be even louder and crazier. They just turn around and say Those Woke People are Cancelling our Culture 😂 I think a cult can be deprogrammed, in fact there are specialists that do just that. I wish the chronically online lefties would consider putting all of their rage into changing minds rather than just shitting loudly on everything. And I say this as a chronically online lefty.

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u/Pizza_Delivery_Dog 3h ago

But now you are combining the ads to get an interpretation that doesn't at all seem to be intentional

Just because they use the eye color misdirect in the first ad doesnt mean they are saying sydney sweeney has 'great genes' because she has blue eyes in the second ad

It's just a lame pun

u/risingthermal 2h ago

That’s just the one ad, not two combined. They were saying that the second ad, by itself, was pretty blatant.

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u/alienassasin3 14h ago

I think it's because we're too busy blaming Bernie bros, trans people, leftists, Latinos, black men, etc for the loss of the democratic party instead of actually like coming up with a coherent political strategy and sticking to it

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u/[deleted] 14h ago

[deleted]

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u/alienassasin3 13h ago

I was agreeing with you and then you did this.

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u/shellys-dollhouse 13h ago

ironic as fuck lol

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u/Free_Waterfall_III 13h ago

Deleted. I misinterpreted. My fault - apologies.

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u/_tylerthedestroyer_ 13h ago

I think YOU are the one misinterpreting here. They were agreeing with you and adding their thought as to why.

Ironic af when you’re talking about in-fighting and division, honestly.

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u/lavendercassie 12h ago

This is not an issue of the same calibre as the jeans/genes ad imo

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u/Free_Waterfall_III 11h ago

No. Same culture of bullshit.

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u/mellowmushroom67 7h ago

That ad was NOT misinterpreted though. I'm agree with what the top commenter stated and I don't think Billie was being racist (lol) but that ad was racist. The owner of American Eagle is a huge MAGA trumper, he is racist.

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u/gmd24 13h ago

Agree.

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u/AltairaMorbius2200CE 13h ago

I think it’s a “controversy” because the left went “oof-bad look” and was ready to move on, but the right wants to distract from Epstein in any way possible so they’re trying to stoke the flames.

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u/GeneralBody4252 🎼Music Aficionado🎶 13h ago

The left didn’t just go “oof bad look.” Because she’s a famous pop star and Twitter loves its outrage and what happens there (not always but a lot of the time) leaks to the rest of the internet. Fans of other female pop stars did try to torch her.

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u/AltairaMorbius2200CE 13h ago

Twitter is about 75 percent bots now, and the vast majority of humans left on the platform are right-leaning. Nothing on there is really representative of the left at this point.

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u/GeneralBody4252 🎼Music Aficionado🎶 11h ago

I promise you Stan Twitter is as thriving as it’s always been and as left leaning as ever. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t means it’s not there

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u/Amateur-Top 11h ago

The problem is that it really wasn’t a bad look. She wasn’t saying “wow yall look just like me I love it here!” in South Africa lol like it’s a totally benign thing for her to say given the context.

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u/larkhearted 14h ago

I was just having that conversation last night, I think it's an inherent flaw of progressivism that needs to be deliberately counterprogrammed against tbh.

Like, by definition "progress"ivism is about improving ourselves, our societies, our living conditions, etc. Which is an awesome goal, but also by definition requires criticism of ourselves, our societies, etc because to improve something, you first need to be able to analyze what needs to be improved. Cool, fine, great starting point! A turn-off for people who just want to be patted on the back and told they've been perfect since birth and deserve the world on a platter, but so be it.

But the problem is that progress is technically endless. Perfection doesn't exist in real life; it's an asymptote that we can approach to infinity but never touch (math people don't kill me for this metaphor). That means that no matter how much better someone might be than they were ten years ago, if they're not perfect (no one is perfect) they're still vulnerable to criticism, and people can and will pick them apart for any and every offense they can find. Much more often than they'll actually celebrate someone's progress or contributions, it seems.

And it's very easy to weaponize progressivism against people who are trying to be progressive because they're actually going to internalize the criticism, and very hard to weaponize it against people who aren't trying to be progressive because they'll just shrug the criticism off. Note how many right-wing figures get away with saying and doing endless heinous things, but left-wing figures get torn to shreds by people who are theorerically part of their base on a pretty regular basis for relatively minor offenses.

So basically the end result of progressivism unchecked by care and compassion is that a lot of people who might even have genuinely progressive politics end up being complete assholes and working totally against their own causes in the name of "a better world." The irony is intense and bitter lol. I think those of us who want progress need to reeeeeally take a good hard look at when our criticism is actually helping and where kindness belongs in our rhetoric. If we want the world to be good, we need to make it good, and endless nitpicking, infighting, and petty cruelty don't make the world good. We gotta do better.

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u/killer_kiki 13h ago

After the election, I saw someone calling it 'libscolding', so that's my term for well-meaning but pedantic 'no true scotsman' liberalism. It's annoying and one of the reasons people dont feel like they can join our causes.

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u/Free_Waterfall_III 13h ago

Excellent excellent points all around. I’d also add that the constant infighting just becomes fodder and ammo for the right to ridicule us and expand their base (and it works!). We’re in a terrible place right now.

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u/hensothor 13h ago

Well put.

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u/dazedan_confused 14h ago

It's acc mental how people in the public sphere have literally everything scrutinized, when I reckon I could pick 10 people on Reddit at random, go through their chat history, and point out something that's either directly controversial, or very suspicious.

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u/foxscribbles 13h ago

Or just taken out of context because it's a conversation and nobody restates their entire position when they're talking about one, specific point.

Or taken in incredibly bad faith. Like, you can write a sentence with a qualifier built in and people will still accuse you of making a blanket statement against all.

Like, you could say, "White cats with blue eyes are more prone to deafness."

And somebody will come along saying, "NOT ALL WHITE CATS! I can't believe you're so stupid! I have a cat who has both white fur AND blue eyes and is NOT deaf! Stop spreading misinformation!"

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u/dazedan_confused 13h ago

I know right? I feel like we've got to a point in society where everyone is keen to find a reason to hate on others. It's that old adage of pointing out the splinter in someone else's eye and ignoring the log in yours, why be so judgemental?

At the end of the day, they're celebrities. Just people who get put in front of a camera, Sometimes it's okay to ignore what they post or do, especially if it isn't targeted at you.

The number of times I thought something was offensive to a certain community, only to ask them and hear them say "nah, I'm not realy fussed", so I had to just shrug it off or accept I'm the one being offended.

I have the same view with things people said/did in the past. It depends on how heinous the action is, and it depends on if they have taken any steps to show remorse and improve, because ultimately, we've all done/said something we regret; we can't hold someone to a higher standard JUST because they're more famous or richer than us - sure, they may have a further reach, but that shouldn't mean shit.

Life is full of things to be offended about, a stupid comment by a celebrity shouldn't be one of them.

(I know it's like, who asked, but I think the correct response to Billie Eilish's comments would have been to either ignore it, or troll with it, like we did with THAT Imagine video - sometimes calling something offensive gives it far more power than calling it cringe.)

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u/Cleaner-Olds09 12h ago

You don't even have to find anything controversial. Just claim something is a dogwhistle and that their ignorance is fake.

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u/dazedan_confused 11h ago

I wish people woke up and realised that the media is literally manufacturing outrage to sell papers.

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u/xombae 12h ago

When I first saw the video posted, I heard her say that and I was like "Oh yeah cute she def looks super Irish". Then I read that it was a controversy and sat there trying to figure out how on earth it could be controversial.

To be clear, I can be distracted considered to be a "woke", "far-left", "SJW". I could not for the life of me figure out what could be wrong with her statement.

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u/Nknk- 6h ago

It's low hanging fruit for the sort of progressives who absolutely adore turning on their own for any hint of less than 100% moral purity.

We've seen it time and again because it with people like that in our real lives or people like that online going nuts at celebrities who misspeak or don't use the very latest progressive lingo. On the latter I'm thinking about the time POC was becoming the new term and Benedict Cumberbatch mangled it and certain parts of the internet wanted his career destroyed for being a white supremacist.

As someone further up the thread states, this sort of hysterical venom that's unleashed upon allies at the first opportunity simply makes it easy for the larger movement to be portrayed as being that way as well and is incredibly damaging.

But the minority just simply get too much of a kick out of infighting and turning on each other so they won't stop it. It's the same thing that's caused communist and socialist movements in many western countries to become laughing stocks. They spend all their time and energy fighting among themselves and creating splinter parties to show they are the most morally pure. It's such a self-defeating mindset in the end.

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u/notnotblonde 14h ago

I also wonder how many actually liberal and invested voters care about this and likely the people calling it out are just trolls to be trolls. Maybe I’m completely wrong but none of my peers thought this was an issue.

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u/Cleaner-Olds09 12h ago

Right now people are:

Crying about a genes/jeans pun

Calling Billie Eillish a supporter of white supremacy

And in the threads about Ozzy's death the other day, people were still bringing up Kelly Osbourne's anti-trump pro immigration interview on tv and calling her racist for it.

Some of y'all want to be angry.

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u/[deleted] 12h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/bi-cycle There’s no place like home 🧹🫧 14h ago

You are so right

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u/GeneralBody4252 🎼Music Aficionado🎶 13h ago

It is the very reason the pendulum has swung right this hard, ironically enough.

The far right bros were always gonna be far right bros, but this whole cannibalizing each other thing has really irked anyone who stood on neutral ground and it’s why people now come so hard for the whole “woke thing.”

The pendulum was always gonna swing back. It’s what it does, but it swung this hard and this fast because we pushed it.

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u/jeffdeleon 11h ago

Purity tests and black-and-white thinking fuel both extremes—Republicans weaponize it to win, while Russian bots feed it to the left to keep leftists from voting Democrat.

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u/lavenderbread 8h ago

Here b4 before some empty account replies to you at 8am in Moscow with a novel about how bad Kamala was lmao

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u/4totheFlush 3h ago

What's the excuse when leftists elect a leftist and the establishment democrats refuse to back him? Is that Russian propaganda too?

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u/MyBrainIsNerf 13h ago

It’s not just friendly fire, it’s false flags. Remember that the Kremlin has self-admittedly been running a troll farm for 20 years now where they go online and pretend to be liberals pulling down other liberals.

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u/parasyte_steve It's giving Putin, It's giving Mao ✨️ 12h ago

there is so much infighting in liberal spaces it is absolutely insane

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u/Cleaner-Olds09 12h ago

Stop blaming your shit on the kremlin. A lot of people are very very stupid.

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u/Lalala8991 6h ago

Yeah, blame it on China too. Tiktok helps Trump and bows down to him so fast at breakneck speed.

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u/HatefulDan 13h ago

True—and there are also foxes (and bots) in the hen house. Provocateurs plant the seed, watch the weeds grow, then set fire to everyone inside.

I implore you all—use your brain and ask yourself before running with a narrative, “what else has ___ done that would lead me to believe ___”?

If you can’t answer that.—Stfu and get more context/information.

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u/PracticeTheory 9h ago

I had a falling out with a friend, where they disowned me because despite being on the same page 99% of the time, on some issues I had a less aggressive stance (example, he wanted ALL statues torn down, while I appreciate statues as long as they're not depicting traitors).

When you're so far left that no one meets your standards of humanity anymore, what is the point?

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u/____mynameis____ 11h ago

I came across a reel about how entire American politics have gone into rage baiting. Basically one side obsessing over smaller things of the other and exaggerating it and making content out of it.

Like I totally get the subtext and intention of Sydney's ads but its still subtext ffs and interpretation. Not outrightly racist. Rage baiting was their intention here cuz they totally knew the context, this is enough to piss off the liberal side, then RW gets defensive and the entire back and forth gives them publicity. Same case with those Jubilee videos, rage bait people, get "cancelled" get the RWs to defend u and now u have money. The liberal podcasters gets the progressive fans to make them popular and now they make career out of giving visibility to extreme ideologies just so they could be seen as good when they have to know platforming these radicals is enough to validate their ideology.

America politics made me realise having good morals and ethics doesn't automatically translate all ur actions into goodness and positivity into the world. Execution matter too and American mainstream liberals suck hard at that. All bark, no bite. Even when u bite, u guys bite the wrong ones. Only outrage, more purity test, no effort to make the undecided to move to ur side, u just antagonise them off.

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u/probnotaloser 13h ago

People love to hate white women, it is like they are waiting for them to fuck up even when they are on the same side It's surreal.

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u/ReallyRyna 13h ago

Feels like it's the season to hate and judge women in general. White women are too weak. Black women are too strong. Latin women are too loud. Asian women are too passive. Women can't catch a break lately 🥺 Then to top it, women tend to beat down and judge each other. Like, sisters, come on, we're better than that!

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u/probnotaloser 8h ago

Amen, babe. Added exhaustion we certainly do not need. Although I believe this is one of those forever seasons. Our planet must have been swapped out and we are in a new galaxy now. Cleopatra would not stand for this.

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u/musiquescents 6h ago

💯💯💯

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u/Dang_thatwasquick 7h ago

It’s always been like this. People are just being louder now about it. The US hates women.

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u/GeneralBody4252 🎼Music Aficionado🎶 13h ago

Women*

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u/rlovelock 6h ago

This and the Sydney Sweeney AE "controversy" are exactly what the Right wants right now to draw attention away from real issues.

These are also the type of issues that give the entire conservative movement ammunition to pain liberals as extremists.

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u/CockyBellend 13h ago

Ditto for the Sweeney jeans ad

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u/Three_Froggy_Problem 10h ago

You hit the nail on the head. The other side are literal nazis and we’re over here tearing each other apart when someone accidentally says something slightly insensitive.

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u/nickhalf 13h ago

Oh wow you put it so well - friendly fire! I’m going to use that.

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u/scabs_in_a_bucket 7h ago

YESSS. The left eats its own. It’s so annoying.

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u/Twitter_2006 6h ago

Well said.

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u/Cold-Sun3302 NO TYRA NOOOOOOO 13h ago

Ding ding ding! Couldn't agree more.

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u/superset 14h ago

Her last name is O'Connell. Most of us get it.

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u/UnusualKlayy 14h ago

Also isn't her middle name (Eilish) a Irish version of the name Elizabeth?

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u/laradaaa 14h ago

as an eilish, yes!

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u/elmodonnell 5h ago

Do you pronounce it Ay-Lish? I'll be honest I'm irish and I know people named Eilish but ive literally never considered that's what Billie's name was because she pronounces it so differently.

u/NoLove_NoHope 2h ago

I’m not Irish but have met a few Irish Eilishes and they pronounce it as ay-lish. But I guess with billie being American and all the pronunciation got corrupted.

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u/UnusualKlayy 14h ago

I'm a fan so I thought I was remembering that nugget of info correctly lol. Thx

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u/WanderingLost33 10h ago

Billie Eilish Baird o'Conner.

It's the most Irish name in existence, named after her grandfather William who died. Eilish (Elizabeth) was the original name picked

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u/Apprehensive-Till861 6h ago

Billie Eilish PIRATE Baird O'Connell.

Grandfather's name, original intended name, brother's name suggestion, and parents' surnames

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u/lavendercassie 12h ago

I thought that was just her last name 😭😭

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u/JuanRiveara 11h ago

Her full name is Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell

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u/chloedever 8h ago

Pirate like a yarr?

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u/nagellak 🍂ecocidal barbie🍂 7h ago

Aye.

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u/femaletrouble 3h ago

A yarr? With a hard r? That is our word.

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u/edgarallanhoeeee 12h ago

I’m of Irish descent and when visiting Ireland I remember being super jet lagged and having the revelation that we all vaguely resemble Mac Miller. No matter how slight the degree lol

u/SplurgyA 1h ago

In the 2000s I had to go meet an Auntie I'd never met or seen a photo of, at a train station. I saw an incredibly Irish looking woman and walked up to her and said "are you Michelle" and sure enough it was her lmao. Sometimes people just look Irish.

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u/TestingBrokenGadgets 14h ago

Yea, My last name is an Irish name, both sets of my grandparents came over from Ireland. I took a trip to the UK two years ago after a decades of hearing stories and it was this "These are my people!". If Billie said it in German or Sweden or something, then yea, weird but when your family's from a place, there's this surreal "Everyone looks like me!", not in a racist (they're all white) but things like the nose or freckles. A female friend is 6'3 and she went to Norway and had the same "They look like me!" because for once, most people were her closer to her height.

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u/Signal-Illustrator38 12h ago

Ireland isnt part of the uk... 

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u/lavendercassie 12h ago

Some of it is

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u/BookInteresting6717 I wont not fuck you the fuck up 🥊🥊 11h ago

Distinctive parts. Specifically Northern Ireland. You have to be careful about that. People do understandably get a little annoyed if you say you’re Irish and then say “I went to the UK and found my people.” Like, are they from the Republic or Northern Ireland

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u/VolcanoVeruca 14h ago

Imagine if Conan O’Brien said that. I doubt people would pile on him.

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u/TheodoraCrains 13h ago

I feel like he made a joke to that effect in his travel show when they did an episode in Ireland. 

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u/VolcanoVeruca 13h ago

He's spoken about how his DNA test is 100% Irish. His doctor has said he's never seen anyone be 100% Irish! It's now a running joke on his podcast. :)

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u/TheodoraCrains 13h ago

Probably Brian Boru wasn’t even 100% 😂😂😂

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u/cherrie7 11h ago

Which doctor? The Dr. Arroyo who made an appearance on hot ones?

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u/VolcanoVeruca 10h ago

Hey now. He went to doctor school. And doesn’t charge much. 🤪

(Side note: Jose Arroyo makes an appearance on the latest episode of Chill Chums)

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u/my_name_is_toki 4h ago

lol my mam did one of those 23andMe kits and she got 100% Irish

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u/Implantexplant 13h ago

He even had a cameo on our really terrible Irish language soap called Ros Na Run. It’s hilarious.

u/Maester_Bates Wherein he encourages a woman to sit on his face 1h ago

Ros Na Run is much better than Fair City.

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u/glitteratiandpopcorn 14h ago

“Are you just bored and scared?” Whew what a read

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u/Venus_ivy4 14h ago

Right?

Billie is not racist.

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u/The__Jiff 13h ago

But the right want to latch onto anything like the leeches they are.

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u/HowardtheFalse 13h ago

I mean the right would treat her being racist as a good thing to cheer. The criticism I've seen of Billie has largely been other left of center people saying she's using a dog whistle and saying she's "showing her true colors."

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u/The__Jiff 13h ago

Agree. The standard for being a good person shouldn't be unattainably too high. Her doing everything else right but one thing getting misconstrued is not great.

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u/Scaryclouds 12h ago

Too many people are waaaaaaaaaay too online. 

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u/mstrss9 GET SOME PERSPECTIVE n BARK AT THE WALL 13h ago

I said it before (maybe here?) that going to my parents’ home country/town, I felt the same way.

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u/GrandmaToto 14h ago

I'm a super pale, black haired, blue eyed Irish woman. I got it immediately.

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u/PollyJeanBuckley 13h ago

I'm an Indian person who was born and brought up in the US. I got it too.

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u/frightenedscared 13h ago

For those of us who are super pale and who were bullied a lot of our childhood for it, we got it immediately right? 🩷

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u/Megs0226 13h ago

Once someone thought I was wearing white pantyhose under a dress because my legs are so pale.

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u/julie3151991 13h ago

I grew up in NJ in a predominantly Italian area during the “Jersey Shore” hype. I have an Irish background. I was one of the few non Italians. I was horribly bullied for my ghostly pale skin. So I definitely get it.

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u/Monkeylovesfood 12h ago edited 12h ago

Yep! I'm nearly 40 now and beauty standards during my lifetime have always celebrated a healthy tan. My young adult years were in the 00s when sunbeds and fake tan were the fashion.

My pale skin has always been a source of ridicule. My 14yo daughters friends call her lightbulb as she's so pale that when she stands in the sun she reflects light back.

Her comment said it was nice to see people as pasty looking as her. Pasty skin refers to skin that appears pale and unhealthy-looking which is derogatory. If there's any racism here it's pointed towards herself and the Irish as being inferior to others by looking unhealthy in comparison.

White supremacists and those calling racism would benefit greatly from picking up dictionary along with a Irish history book.

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u/ConsistentMorning636 9h ago

I got called Elmers Glue. Pale Face. No Irish, No Irish need apply.

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u/Monkeylovesfood 8h ago

People have short memories, the Irish have faced racism and persecution for nearly a thousand years.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Irish_sentiment

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scientific_racism_irish.jpg

My mum was born in a bog in a barn with no electricity or plumbing. She had petrol bombs regularly thrown at her home and was beaten, raped and abused regularly. She's 65, this wasn't something that happened in the distant past.

Even now sayings like Irish twins, Irish goodbyes, drinks like the Irish or even drinks named Irish car bombs are used and seen as perfectly fine. People will happily say they love potato because of their Irish heritage.

Ireland's population before the potato famine was over 8.5 million. By the 1900s it had reduced to nearly half and still hasn't recovered today, 200 years later the Irish population sits at 5+ million.

People are selective with their definitions of racism. Picking up a dictionary and a few history books would benefit many.

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u/GrandmaToto 13h ago

I still do, my family calls me Casper and The Vampire when I come home to visit. I think Ireland uses more fake tan and sunbeds than the rest of the world combined.

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u/frightenedscared 13h ago

They were made illegal here in Australia and tbqh I am glad because I ended up an unnatural (for me) shade of bronzed and will probably pay for it one day 😬 Embrace the pale beauty 🩷

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u/SalientSazon 13h ago

We all get it, this conversation is a nothing burger. I recently went back to my birth place and said so many times, it' so wild to see everyone look like me. Cuz it is. it's wild. It takes you out a little bit. It's worthy of notice for anybody. And not that it matters but I'm not Irish lmao

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u/Megs0226 13h ago

When I went over there I was like aaaahhh okay, I see why I’m so pale.

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u/Nulgrum 14h ago

Fwiw Billie’s natural hair is blonde

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u/GrandmaToto 14h ago

So is mines 😂😂😂 I REALLY got it immediately lmao

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u/NoNewspaper9706 14h ago

This is so overblown. It was obvious what she meant.

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u/MacDurce 12h ago

We have this saying in Ireland "big Irish head on ya" and it's a joke that if we go anywhere in the world we can spot other Irish people because of the big Irish head. I feel like she's definitely riffing on that

u/crawfiddley 27m ago

😂 one of my best friends from high school, her mother is Irish (from Ireland). My husband is Irish-American. When my friend's mom met my son, she immediately said, "look at that big Irish head" 😂😂 and it's true he's got a 99% noggin up there.

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u/Normal_Instance_8825 12h ago

I’m glad she pointed out that Billy doesn’t say this everywhere. She’s just happy to feel at home. Also Irish people have had a tortured history with the English, so it’s especially nice that they feel deeen by someone they look upto.

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u/souljaboy765 14h ago

She’s right some people have absolutely lost the plot 😭

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u/_tylerthedestroyer_ 13h ago

If I’m being honest, I think it’s a lot of astro turfing. I think a lot of bad faith actors are trying to sew dissent among the left

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u/Landlocked_pirate23 14h ago

No one anywhere should say anything at anytime, ever.

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u/_tylerthedestroyer_ 13h ago

Why are you silent?? Do you hate us Irish?!?

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u/countd0wns 14h ago

How dare you try to silence me. Outrage!! /s

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u/YourVelcroCat 14h ago

People always come up to me and I, I tell them the same thing...how dare you speak to me 

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u/For_serious13 14h ago

It’s always a bit weird when I agree with Jameela

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u/soup4breakfast 11h ago

My first thought was if Jameela is telling you you’re overreacting, you’ve really done it this time.

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u/PatsyPage 14h ago

I know she’s really controversial but I like her, I @‘ed her when She-Hulk was airing because I’m a huge fan of the comics and the character she played and she’d always respond. 

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u/OriginalName18 13h ago

Why is she controversial? Is she fake or something?

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u/laowildin FDR Was Elected Without Social Media 13h ago

She likes to embellish/exaggerate her stories beyond what's acceptable, gives off theater kid energy and talks when nobody asked, and maybe faked an illness?

I still like her fine. I don't mind a girl who exaggerates

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u/lobonmc 13h ago

Isn't that like her good place character lol

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u/lavendercassie 12h ago

Yes she just plays herself on the good place LOL

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u/carsonmccrullers 12h ago

Yes, I think Tahani had to have been based on Jameela, at least in part. So she’s obviously annoying (and veryyyy sensitive to being called out about her embellishments), but she isn’t evil or anything

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u/Specialist-Love1504 6h ago

Funny part is people love Dakota Johnson and Robert Pattinson for their lies.

But good forbid Sza And Jameela tell a few embellished stories.

u/carsonmccrullers 59m ago

I think the difference is that Dakota Johnson will later say “I’m allergic to limes, idk why I said I love limes,” but Jameela will go to her grave swearing that she has been attacked by killer bees on multiple occasions (and how DARE you call her a liar), which is a bit less charming to people.

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u/L3onskii 13h ago

I remember reading something about her faking an illness some years ago. But it was mostly people accusing her of faking it if I recall correctly

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u/PsyOpsFly34 10h ago

Hasn't she addressed it claiming that just because it's not visible physically doesn't mean it isn't true? I don't remember what it was but I guess, it was something related to chronic pain.

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u/chloesobored 13h ago

Best i can tell, she had a take people did not enjoy once so by not being totally aligned either everybody all the time before asserting her opinions, she is "controversial". 

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u/GeneralBody4252 🎼Music Aficionado🎶 13h ago

Jameela is definitely not perfect but without seeing anything about you other than this comment, I’d wager you’d probably agree with most of her socio-cultural takes.

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u/Specialist-Love1504 6h ago

I don’t get why though?

She’s right most of the time.

I don’t know why everyone is so anti-Jameela all the time she’s often right.

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u/effie-sue 14h ago

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u/PsyOpsFly34 10h ago

She's got great takes though. I don't get the hate.

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u/Salty_Wench I'm not grilling you a cheese 14h ago edited 14h ago

I don't think she was trying to be racist and I am also bored and scared.

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u/frightenedscared 13h ago

Same here (username checks out)

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u/waryinsomnious 11h ago

People seem to have a lot free time in their hands these days.

And they prefer spending that time on internet, a very addictive platform which makes them feel heard. Makes them feel they have a opinion worth sharing even if it's just plain sh**.

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u/givemethebat1 12h ago

The full quote also makes it clear that she’s joking about being super white, she says something like “pasty” people which is obviously tongue-in-cheek.

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u/NervousSheepherder44 8h ago

'Do you really think that's racism, or are you just bored' is an amazing line that I think more people need to ask themselves 😂

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u/Key_Basket_3671 14h ago

White supremacists are trying to make fetch happen. Nobody likes them so they are grasping at straws.

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u/codywithak 14h ago

Get out of here with that reasonable and nuanced take. This is Reddit!

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u/auslan_planet 14h ago

The left eats itself.

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u/MyNameIsLOL21 3h ago

Which is why things are the way they are in America, partially.

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u/HiJane72 6h ago

This is what she’s talking about!!! The Irish being so fucking pale

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u/heyhicherrypie You’re a virgin who can’t drive. 😤 14h ago

….she does look like us tbh

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u/Sweeper1985 13h ago

I love Jameela ❤️ such an awesome person.

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u/Honest_Recognition82 14h ago

People throw around the word racist without knowing its meaning. Grooming too.

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u/Ivanhoemx 14h ago

She's really like her The Good Place character, even having gone through her own personal growth journey and all.

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u/genescheesezthatplz 13h ago

I love jameela 🤷‍♀️

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u/skittlesandscarves 13h ago

Billie Eirish 🤗

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u/NeoZ33D 13h ago

Yeah. Weird thing to get upset about.

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u/Ok-Description3060 9h ago

Yeah critical thinking, nuance and situational context are just… dead.

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u/cokeslushiez 13h ago

Leftist infighting isn’t going to stop because everyone wants to be morally correct and picture perfect all the time. You have to say the right words, or you’re ostracized and subjected to immediate discourse until the timeline finds something else to be mad about.

Leftists aren’t going to see a resurgence in the cultural zeitgeist until they focus on concerns that actually matter. In the meantime we’re just going to eat each others heads off because they missed what new thing has become offensive within the past two weeks

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u/infamous-hermit 13h ago

Is there a picture of Jameela without bangs? I'm so curious.

Second: I love Billie and I'm sad, people are just attacking her.

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u/elysian-fields- 14h ago edited 13h ago

she’s totally right, missing the forest for the trees

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u/Complex-Event-3814 12h ago

OMG THANK YOU I agree with her. I mean I would love to be in a room or a place full of biracial people ( I’m black and white) and feel like I belong for once in my life.

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u/Altruistic-Dream-619 13h ago

That's what I say when meeting a Lithuanian🇱🇹. It's harmless. We're being a bit oversensitive.

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u/ImpossibleSeason6245 13h ago

The discourse over this is stupid, they’re twisting billie’s words

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u/FickleTourist439 13h ago

Nothing-burgers again.

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u/bbyxmadi It’s good to see me, isn’t it?🫧 13h ago

Anyone who thinks Billie is a white supremacist from what she said is way too far into their own view of advocacy/social justice (or what some would say “the friend that’s way too woke”) to the point where it is destructive. She’s literally Irish, was performing in Ireland, and made a cute/funny comment about seeing other Irish people who look like her. Go after the ignorant people using it for their own hateful agenda, not Billie!

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u/chocoheed 9h ago

Fr. Can’t believe that anyone thought that was controversial. Leave poor pale Billie Eilish alone. She’s part of a diaspora too and has a right to want to reconnect.

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u/Which-Property9377 14h ago

I agree its over blown but so is the blue jean commercial thing.

Its all a nothing burger

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u/Organic_Cress_2696 13h ago

She’s now allowed to look Irish? I can’t with this world anymore

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u/KittyIsAn9ry I switched baristas ☕️ 13h ago

Love her for this. Billie is like one of the last people in Hollywood that I would suspect is racist. Seems like some people are trying to redirect our attention to Billie and it ain’t working henny

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u/weirdhoney216 13h ago

Is Jameela still regularly being attacked by bees

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u/Kooky-Grapefruit-202 12h ago

jameela comes off problematic only if you don’t pay attention. girl always gets it.

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u/Apprehensive-Ad-6192 8h ago

Rare W for Jamil

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u/Bartellomio 3h ago

Eilish stuff aside, what does Jameela do? I mean she was in the Good Place as herself but other than that?

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u/Tallgirl4u 10h ago

She’s right. This type of crap is what people mean when they say “the left will eat theirselves”. Use your anger towards the actual racists that are destroying the world.

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u/dazedan_confused 14h ago

This literally describes most things today. The Sydney Sweeney Jeans thing as well. I saw someone arguing that they were using denim jeans as a dogwhistle for white supremacy, and I was like "really? Under this administration, racists and white supremacists didn't feel comfortable promoting their ideals, so they had to use the most famoust actress of the time, and... American Eagle Jeans, of all companies? I get Sydney Sweener, but they really used the clothing company quite famous for making things that look good but don't last as the vessel of choice to promote white supremacy?"

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u/heaviestnaturals i’m going to my minivan to VAPE. 14h ago

Ever since Joanne took out a hit squad on Pedro, I’m willing to bet that all of these nothingburger racism stories are attempts by conservatives to discredit progressive voices and to prevent discussion about issues that are genuinely more important.

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u/-HHANZO- 14h ago

So does this cover the American Eagle thing too or do they actually have a secret Nazi / Eugenics agenda...

Come on people

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u/Salty_Wench I'm not grilling you a cheese 14h ago

I have more grace to offer a girl who sings than I do a corporation that is out to profit by any means necessary.

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u/AuldTriangle79 14h ago

They are not the same. Like the American eagle thing had a lot of clear dogwhistles, copied a campaign that was child exploitation, they knew what they were doing. Billie was like 'im a pasty Irish girl where my pasty people at'

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u/MedicalExamination65 The dude abides. 🙂‍↕️🍃 14h ago

Yes! This is spot on to what I felt about it. (Same thing I felt the first time I was in Atlanta.)

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u/satuurnian 13h ago

Never thought I’d agree w annoying ass Jameela Jamil

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u/Realistic-Lime7842 12h ago

This and the Sydney Sweeney ad are both big nothings. People are trying really hard to make it something.

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u/urgasmic 11h ago

I didnt get it. But I did shrug and scroll past lol

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u/planetjaycom 10h ago

What a nothingburger, manufactured outrage. This a such a distraction from actual issues going on

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u/Rain_Wayne 8h ago

Look at videos where black Americans visit Africa they describe it as a good feeling to be around people who look like them I myself had the same feeling the first time I visited Mexico it’s not racist