Billie Eilish sparks optical illusion debate over colour of her Nike sneakers

Singer tells followers of shoe colour: ‘I don’t care what they look like, I care what they are’

Chelsea Ritschel
New York
Monday 19 October 2020 20:11 BST
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Billie Eilish's Nike shoes are the sneaker version of 'the dress' optical illusion
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Billie Eilish has sparked a debate reminiscent of the one over “the dress” with photos and videos of a pair of her Nike shoes that she claims are mint green and white.

Over the weekend, the Bad Guy singer participated in a question-and-answer on her Instagram Stories, during which one of her followers asked for her input on the years-old question of whether the 2015 viral dress was blue and black or white and gold.

The singer then shared an optical illusion of her own, explaining that a few years ago she wore a pair of mint and white sneakers from Nike’s Air More Uptempo, only for her father to reveal that he thought the shoes were pink and white.

To Eilish’s surprise, many of her fans thought the shoes looked pink and white as well - prompting her to share a video of her searching for photos of the mint green sneakers to prove her point.

Among those disagreeing with Eilish was her mother, who admitted that the sneakers looked pink and green.

“I don't care what you think they look like, I care what they are," Eilish said at one point, later accusing the “whole internet” of gaslighting her.

In a further effort to prove the colour of the shoes, the Grammy winner took them outside, where she held them against actual pink and white shoes.

Despite her insistence, many of Eilish’s fans were divided, with the majority revealing that they see the sneakers as pink and white.

“Billie Eilish HAS to be colourblind,” one person tweeted. “Those shoes ARE pink and white.”

Another said: “Can we all agree Billie Eilish’s shoes are PINK AND WHITE?”

“I’m sorry to break it to you, but your shoes are very much pink and white,” someone else tweeted at the Ocean Eyes singer.  

Others were simply amused by the 18-year-old’s dedication to proving she was right.

“Billie Eilish getting into a heated argument over the colour of her shoes is one of the highlights of my day,” one person tweeted, while another said: “I will forever remember how Billie Eilish fought with the entire internet to prove a point about her mint white shoes.”

While the singer did not back down from the argument, she eventually asked her more than 67m Instagram followers to “let me have this” while referencing body-shaming she’s faced over recent viral paparazzi photos of herself.

"So we all know that I’m right here even if you see something else. You know that I’m right underneath it all, right?" she said. "And real quick: before you keep arguing or whatever the f***, the entire internet’s been calling me fat for a week, so let me have this."

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