Billie Eilish says she is “incredibly offended” by people who laugh at the tics she experiences due to Tourette’s syndrome.
Speaking to David Letterman on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, the 20-year-old singer said her tics include wiggling her ears, raising her eyebrows, clicking her jaw and flexing her arm.
“These are things you would never notice if you’re just having a conversation with me, but for me, they’re very exhausting,” Eilish explained.
“The most common way people react is they laugh, because they that I’m trying to be funny ... And I’m always left incredibly offended by that. Or they go 'What?' And then I go, 'I have Tourette's.'"
Eilish said she knows “a couple of artists” who also have Tourette’s but doesn’t want to “out” them. But, she said she is happy to talk about her own experience. “I actually really love answering questions about it because it’s very, very interesting, and I am incredibly confused by it and I don’t get it.”
Eilish said she doesn't experience tics when she is performing, but “if you film me for long enough, you’re going to see lots of tics. I don’t care.”
The singer, who was diagnosed when she was 11, revealed she had the neurological disorder in 2018 via an Instagram post. She later told The Fader: “The internet hasn’t really seen the bad ones, because I’m really good at suppressing them. The thing is, the longer you suppress them, the worse they get afterwards.
“I’m sure one day everyone will see the tic attacks that happen when I’m stressed and haven’t slept. But it could be a lot worse, and it’s not, and I’m grateful for that. And you know what, it’s f**king whatever."