Billie Eilish Quit Reading Instagram Comments Because 'It Was Ruining My Life'

Billie Eilish has quit reading Instagram, period.

“It was ruining my life,” the 18-year-old singer told the BBC Tuesday. “I stopped two days ago. Literally, two days ago. I stopped reading comments fully.”

Eilish has been forced to adapt her social media use because of the treatment she’s received since becoming the youngest person ever to win the four main categories at the Grammys (she won five total).

“It’s way worse than it’s ever been right now,” she told BBC reporter Louise Minchin ahead of her appearance at the BRIT Awards in London, where she debuted the new James Bond theme “No Time to Die” for the first time ever live.

“It’s weird: the cooler the things you get to do are the more people hate you. It’s crazy.”

Eilish, continues “It’s a bunch of trolls. And the problem is a lot of it is really funny. I think that’s the issue. That’s why nobody really stops: because it’s funny.

“Also, I would say it’s anything for a joke. Say anything to make somebody laugh. I experienced that growing up: I’d say things that I thought people would laugh at and then later I would realize that wasn’t a cool thing to say.”

This isn’t the first time that Eilish has spoken out about the dangers of social media — in January, she asked people to stop dressing up and pretending to be her in public places like malls and city streets. She then shared screengrabs of various prank videos where YouTubers film themselves dressing up in her signature style — including her green roots, oversized clothes and sunglasses — in order to trick people into thinking they are Eilish.

“Please stop doing this s—,” the Grammy winner wrote. “It is not safe for you and it is mean to the people who don’t know any better. You make me look bad.”

Her comments also come on the back of protective words from mentor Justin Bieber, who says he’s looking out for the “Bad Guy” singer as her fame skyrockets.

“Let her do her thing and if she ever needs me, I’m gonna be here for her,” Bieber told New Music Daily‘s Zane Lowe on Beats 1 over the weekend. “I don’t want her to lose it. I don’t want her to go through anything I went through. I don’t wish that upon anybody. If she ever needs me, I’m just a call away.”

Eilish later shared a clip to the Changes singer’s Instagram page on her own feed, which was picked up by his wife Hailey Baldwin, Jameela Jamil, and Naomi Campbell.

By the looks of things, Eilish has taken heed of his advice.

“It’s insane that I have even been reading comments up until this point,” Eilish told the BBC. “I should have stopped long ago. The problem is, I’ve always wanted to stay in touch with the fans and keep talking to them — people have ruined that for me. And for them. They’ve ruined it for them and that sucks.”

She added, “I still try to ‘like’ fan posts or whatever and especially if I see fans anywhere, I just want to talk to them and be around them because they’re people. They’re me. They’re me. They’re like other mes. And so, they’re like friends of mine but, yeah, the Internet is ruining my life. So, I turned it off.”