Billie Eilish defends herself after declaring eating meat is 'inherently wrong'

Billie Eilish has responded to the vicious online backlash over her declaration that eating meat is "inherently wrong".

The 24-year-old Bad Guy star - who has followed a vegan diet since she was a child - sparked a major furore online after she insisted no one can "love animals" if they don't limit themselves to plant-based food and she's now doubled down on her comments and urged her social media followers to watch videos of animals being slaughtered.

In a series of posts on Instagram, she wrote: "So stay f****** mad at me. I really don't give a Goddamn f***."

She went on to add: "Go watch a documentary or two and some footage of what is done to the animals u claim to love and what it does to the planet u pretend to love as well.

"If that footage was hard for u to watch, I encourage u to pls take a look at [yourself]. Like I am so tired of standing up for/having empathy for living beings being controversial.

"[Please] continue to live in a constant state of cognitive dissonance and denial and try to convince urself that [you're] not living a lie."

Billie's posts come after she spoke about her diet in a video interview with ELLE magazine.

The singer was asked: "What’s one hill you'd die on?" and she replied: "Ya’ll ain’t gonna like me for this one. Eating meat is inherently wrong.

"Two things cannot coincide: 'I love all animals so much and I eat meat'. Sorry - you could eat meat, go for it, you could love animals, but you can’t do both."

Billie - who recently released new concert movie Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D - previously opened up about her stance on eating meat in a post on her Instagram Stories alongside footage taken at a US dairy farm.

She wrote: "I keep my mouth shut most of the time about this because I believe everyone should do, eat, and say whatever they want … and I don’t feel the need to shove what I believe in in anyone’s face.

"But man … if you can watch the videos that I just posted and not give a f*** that it’s YOU contributing by LITERALLY EATING the creatures that are being fully tortured just for your pleasure. I feel sorry for you."

She added: “I understand that meat tastes good … and I know you think you’re just one person and it 'won’t change anything if you stop'. But that’s ignorant and stupid.

"If you have half a brain, you should know 'one person' adds up."