Billie Eilish Pockets A Fan's Hair, Punches 'Jimmy Kimmel'

By Andrew Sanford | TV | October 14, 2021 |

By Andrew Sanford | TV | October 14, 2021 |

One of the things I appreciate about Billie Eilish is how down to Earth she seems. I say seems because I do not know her personally. Plenty of celebrities have mastered the art of seeming normal in interviews, only to be revealed as giant jerks. This could be the case for Eilish, but for now, I’m going to assume she is as good-natured and friendly as she comes across. Like last night on Jimmy Kimmel: Live, when she cut an audience member’s hair and punched Kimmel in the stomach.

The angle of the bit was that Billie made a bucket list when she was twelve years old. That in and of itself is fun. As Jimmy reads off the items, it does very much resemble something a precocious twelve-year-old would write. It also made me age rapidly like someone who drank from the wrong grail. I do not know what the “game” is but also I just lost it, I think? I don’t know, my back hurts, leave me alone.

There’s an air of sincerity to Eilish that comes across here. She’s comfortable, she’s shy, she’s having a good time and none of it feels forced. I’ve watched a lot of late-night interviews and, more often than not, you can tell when someone is faking or phoning it in. The main reason I don’t doubt her sincerity revolves around what she did with an audience member’s hair.

One of Billie’s bucket list items was to cut someone’s hair. She and Kimmel easily get a volunteer from the audience and once the cut was done, Billie is left holding a large lock of the fan’s hair. What does she do with the hair? She pockets it. It would be easy to say, “Well that’s weird!” I found it relatable. There have been many times in my life when I was in a public space, found myself holding a wrapper or the tab to a soda can and with no trash or recycling bin nearby. So I pocketed said items to dispose of later.

When you’ve reached Billie Eilish fame, no one would bat an eye if you dropped a lock of a stranger’s hair onto a studio floor. In fact, someone would likely swoop in later and clean up after you. Not Billie Eilish! She pocketed that lock, likely to throw away later. Or, perhaps, to make some sort of shrine.