Dear Gossips,
Have you seen the video of Justin Bieber getting emotional while talking about Billie Eilish? He’s one of the few people who’d understand what she’s experiencing, what fame can do to a young person, the downside of success and spotlight.
It must have been a surreal moment for Billie because, as she shared in her carousel on Instagram, JB’s face used to be all over her bedroom:
And as she said in her Vogue interview of where she is now, of achieving stardom:
“I realize now that it’s everything I ever wanted.”
I appreciate that she admits to it. Few of them ever say out loud, on the record, that part of what they desired is to be known, to be celebrated, to be FAMOUS.
That said, no one is ever really prepared for what fame can bring. And while certain people handle it better than others, I always go back to what George Clooney said, which is something I’ve been repeating on this site since I started doing this 17 years ago – fame can arrest you at the age that it arrives…although there have been exceptions.
Taylor Swift is trying to be an exception. Beyoncé is an exception. One of the reasons Beyoncé is an exception is because at the beginning, her fame was shared. I wonder if that might make a difference for Billie. She is definitely the face of her brand but, as we know, she works closely with Finneas. He’s been with her the whole ride. And, sure, the shine isn’t as bright on him as it is on his sister, but it’s about having someone to share it with, someone who can be on that road with you, someone with whom you have a shorthand, someone you can grow with, who encourages you to grow.
What happened to Justin is what we’ve seen happen time and again – when you hit it at 14, how do you become the person you were always meant to be? And what does “meant to be” even mean when your identity is being shaped in real time by all the attention, all the accolades, all the hype?
He’s been trying to figure that out for years; it’s still a work in progress. But, right now, he no longer has a moustache.
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
