Phoebe Bridgers opened up about some of the more difficult parts of fame in a wide-ranging Them interview with her Boygenius bandmates Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker.
“I’m coming from a place of literally — I’m feeling it in my body as I’m saying it, but — people with my picture as their Twitter picture, who claim to like my music, f—ing bullied me at the airport on the way to my father’s funeral this year,” she revealed at one point. While she didn’t note what exact situation prompted the negative attention, Bridgers made headlines in January when she was photographed at the airport with comedian Bo Burnham amid rumors that she split from actor Paul Mescal. The “I Know the End” singer announced the death of her father just days before the photos made their rounds online.
“If you’re a kid and the internet somehow taught you that that’s an okay thing to do, then of course I hate capitalism and everything that led you to believe that it’s okay to do that,” Bridgers continued. “I, at one of the lowest points of my life, saw people who claim to love me f—ing dehumanize me and shame me and f—ing bully me on the way to my dad’s wake.”
And yes, these alleged “fans” did know that her father recently passed away. “A lot of the top comments [were] like, ‘Hey, her dad just died, what are you guys doing?’”
As a message to those who harass others online, Bridgers said, “I f—ing hate you, and I hope you grow the fuck up.”
She concluded, “I have to say, most of the people I talk to light up my life and remind me what I love about my job, but my two best friends are helping me with the boundary of I don’t have to sit here and be f—ing grateful that that happened and that that’s a part of my job. It doesn’t have to be, and it wasn’t five years ago, so I appreciate being able to look at two other people and be like, this is dehumanizing abuse, horrible s—.”
Earlier this week, Boygenius announced their upcoming headlining tour of North America in support of the band’s long-awaited debut album The Record.