We live in a world where people will gladly scroll past global chaos, only to hit absolute rock bottom over a drawing of a bare chest. That’s because our society excels at freaking out over basic human anatomy — especially when it belongs to a woman. Pop superstar Billie Eilish triggered this exact brand of mass frenzy simply by participating in a viral Instagram challenge.
Within an hour of sharing her phone’s wallpaper and a drawing she was proud of, she lost over 100,000 followers.
As a multi-Grammy winner sitting comfortably on a massive fortune with over 120 million Instagram followers now, her response was simply to laugh it off. The whole episode serves as a funny reminder of how fragile celebrity fanbases can be — and perhaps a timely lesson in just how ridiculous online outrage culture has always been.
Billie Eilish participated in an Instagram challenge and shared some classic artwork
There was instant outrage after she showed fans the display on her phone screen
Back in late December 2020, Billie Eilish’s fan count took a sudden, dramatic hit. While the rest of the world was busy navigating a global pandemic, a part of the internet had entirely different, far more pressing concerns — like what a pop star had set as her phone wallpaper.
It all started when the American singer-songwriter jumped on a viral “Post a Picture Of” trend on social media, obliging fans who asked to see her lock screen. She posted a screenshot on her Instagram story, revealing a classic painting featuring two topless women in a soft green hue.
When some other fans asked to see a drawing she was proud of, she shared a page from her sketchbook depicting women’s bodies and some snakes. Naturally, the internet did what the internet does best: it panicked.
picture alliance / Getty Image (not the actual photo)
The classic Billie Eilish response after she lost 100,000 followers
Within an hour, Billie’s follower count plummeted by a whopping 100,000, dipping from 73 million down to 72.9 million. Imagine sitting in a worldwide lockdown and deciding that your top priority for the day is unfollowing a teenager because she likes classic art.
Instead of trying to pacify her upset fans, Billie doubled down and openly mocked the whole ordeal. She reposted a tweet tracking her 100K follower drop with a direct message to the internet: “LMFAOOO. Y’all babies SMH.”
For context, the lock screen wallpaper featured a piece called ‘The Awakening’, created by American artist David Cheifetz. The oil painting was inspired by live reference models Tout d’Lou and Fox Chalker.
Some reports note that it was unclear whether the drop in followers was really due to her doodle or just a fluctuation in numbers.
Unfiltered authenticity keeps costing the singer social media followers
At 24, Billie Eilish is easily one of the biggest names in music. From recording a single in her childhood bedroom at age 13 to becoming the youngest star to win Album of the Year at the Grammys, her rise has been meteoric.
Yet, being at the top hasn’t stopped the internet from constantly policing her every move.
The 2020 lock screen incident was far from isolated. Less than a year later, Billie opened up in Elle’s October 2021 cover story about losing another batch of followers simply because her personal style began to evolve. As she shifted away from her signature oversized streetwear toward more skin-baring outfits, conservative fans revolted.
“People hold on to these memories and have an attachment. But it’s very dehumanizing,” she noted, addressing how quickly audiences turn when a female artist steps out of the box they put her in.
History repeated itself in late 2023 after her viral Variety cover story. When Billie candidly revealed her attraction to women, another wave of offended followers hit the exit button, costing her an estimated 100,000 Instagram followers overnight, according to some reports.
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin / Getty Images
Why simple drawings still trigger mass cultural discomfort and panic
The internet’s sudden meltdown over Billie Eilish’s lock screen points to a much bigger, deeply rooted habit: society’s obsession with policing women’s bodies.
Research shows that this double standard runs deep. A study led by Professor Michelle Ryan, Director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, revealed that people consistently judge women’s physical choices through a harsh moral lens. Whether it involves personal style, health, or appearance, women’s decisions are routinely framed as moral issues, whereas similar choices by men rarely trigger the same reaction.
In another study, researchers conducted a survey asking adults in the US to rate the acceptability of men and women going topless in everyday scenarios, like on a balcony or at the beach. While male toplessness was largely viewed as normal, female toplessness was met with sharp moral pushback.
Opponents claimed that a woman uncovering her chest would “corrupt moral values” or harm children — concerns that rarely came up when evaluating men.
A woman’s body is not a scandal, an invitation for debate, or a threat to public morals
Research shows that once society labels a woman’s body as a moral issue, controlling it becomes much easier to justify. The moral outrage is what fuels strict dress codes, public breastfeeding bans, and aggressive restrictions on reproductive healthcare.
When you strip away the social media drama, what we are actually looking at is simple painting. A piece of art depicting the human form — something that has existed in galleries, museums, and textbooks for centuries. The fact that a glimpse was enough to trigger a digital mass exodus says far more about our collective prudishness than it ever will about Billie Eilish.
At the end of the day, a woman’s body — whether drawn on canvas, photographed in a magazine, or living its life in the real world — isn’t a moral threat.
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Here’s what the internet had to say about the whole controversy
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