Homeschooled Billie Eilish blasted for claiming parents who send kids to school ‘lazy as f***’ in video

Billie Eilish has sparked a fresh wave of outrage after a resurfaced interview saw her slam parents who send their children to school as ‘lazy as f***.’

The 24-year-old Grammy winner is facing fierce backlash after the 2019 clip from Pitchfork’s Over/Under series began circulating online once again, with critics branding her comments ‘privileged’ and wildly out of touch.

Eilish, who was homeschooled alongside her older brother Finneas by their mother, Maggie Baird, has long praised her unconventional upbringing.

The siblings have previously said their education centered on self-expression and allowed them the freedom to pursue music instead of following a traditional classroom curriculum.

But despite homeschooling remaining a relatively uncommon path – used by just 3.3 percent of K-12 students, according to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) – Eilish’s glowing endorsement quickly veered into far more controversial territory.

In the resurfaced interview, the Birds of a Feather singer argued that many parents send their children to school simply because they’re ‘lazy as f***’ – a remark that ignited a firestorm across social media.

Billie Eilish has sparked a fresh wave of outrage after a resurfaced interview saw her slam parents who send their children to school as ‘lazy as f***,’ Above, in February

Eilish, who was homeschooled alongside her older brother Finneas by their mother, Maggie Baird, has long praised her unconventional upbringing and credited it with fueling her creativity; Above, Eilish, brother Finneas O’Connell, father Patrick O’Connell and mother Maggie Baird in 2019

‘I’ve never been to school. I grew up homeschooled, stayed homeschooled, never was not homeschooled. The thing is, I still learned everything, you know? But I learned it in life,’ Eilish began.

She went on to explain that everyday activities replaced traditional lessons in her household.

‘I learned how to do math by cooking with my mom and seeing how many halves are gonna make this amount… If we double this recipe, how many more do we have to put in this batch right here?’ she said. ‘So, that’s how I learned math, and then I learned how to build sh** from my dad.’

The singer then took aim at conventional schooling, insisting there were ‘a lot of ways’ to educate children before blaming parents for choosing classrooms over homeschooling.

‘I mean, there’s a lot of ways to do it. I think some people do it the wrong way, which just makes your life horrible and miserable and boring,’ she said.

‘And that’s mainly because parents are lazy as f*** – that’s why they send their kids to school in the first place: “I don’t want to teach you, b****.”‘

Her comments quickly divided the internet, with many accusing the singer of overlooking the reality that most parents have to work full-time and simply cannot homeschool their children.

‘That’s such a privileged thing to say,’ one critic wrote.

Her comments quickly divided the internet

Another posted: ‘Sooo if parents are supposed to teach their homeschooled kids everything, when do they have time to go to work and provide for the household? This only works if you’re highly privileged already.’

A third quipped: ‘This may unintentionally be the best reason to attend school.’

‘Maybe the parents are busy working to provide for their kids. That’s the opposite of lazy,’ another commenter argued.

Others, however, felt Eilish had a point – even if they disagreed with how she expressed it.

‘Maybe y’all don’t like her delivery but a lot of parents used public school to raise their kids and not just educate them on world affairs and that’s why we have the problems we do now,’ one supporter wrote.

Another added: ‘Lowkey get her point. She just ain’t say it right.’

In the same 2019 interview, her brother Finneas also spoke of homeschooling, saying: ‘Being homeschooled is all about self-discovery. It’s something that I’ve really enjoyed and thrived under. I’m not at a high school where I have to base my self-worth off what other people think of me. 

‘I have to think, “What would I like to be doing? How would I like to be as a person?” I think that’s an enormously positive thing.’

In the same 2019 interview, her brother Finneas also spoke of homeschooling, saying: ‘Being homeschooled is all about self-discovery. It’s something that I’ve really enjoyed and thrived under. I’m not at a high school where I have to base my self-worth off what other people think of me;’ Above, in 2022 

In the same interview, the musicians’ mother, Baird, stressed the flexibility of homeschooling for parents and children alike.

‘Everybody’s always out doing things, traveling, going places, meeting for classes, and organizing field trips. It’s like going to college. You take what you want, where you want it, and you find what you need… 

‘Homeschooling allows us to let them do the things that they really love to do and not have a giant academic schedule on top of it.’

Billie and Finneas’ father, and Baird’s husband, Patrick O’Connell, told The New York Times in March 2019 that he and his wife were inspired to try homeschooling after reading about the experience of ’90s band Hanson.

‘I was completely swept away by these kids… They were religious Oklahoma home-schooled, but nonetheless. Clearly what had happened was they’d been allowed to pursue the things that they were interested in,’ he said. 

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