rent Rivera is well known for his comedy skits. This time, he went too far, mocking famous American artist Billie Eilish.

A YouTube and Instagram star, Rivera is a young social media personality.

Brent has more than 25.2 million subscribers to his YouTube channel as of this writing.

Brent Rivera Controversy Explained

Brent Rivera stirred controversy after sharing a fake Billie Eilish video just weeks after the singer spoke out against such pranks.

On his YouTube channel, young social media influencer Brent Rivera uploaded a parody-type video titled Surprising My Friends With Billie Eilish!

He sneaks up on many of his friends and reveals a woman dressed as Eilish.

Nadine Yani played Billie Eilish’s character in Rivera’s video.

What Did Brent Rivera Say About Billie Eilish?

Rivera’s video was uploaded in February 2022 and has already racked up more than 21 million views in the span of three years.

His video arrived shortly after Eilish criticized other YouTubers and influencers for similar pranks.

The Ocean Eyes singer described the viral trend of impersonating her as unsafe.

According to Insider, she called the people mean, and they don’t know her any better. The famous pop star said of the trend in January 2020:

Please stop doing this s***!

Despite being cautioned, Rivera went ahead and released the video. In response to the backlash, he attempted to clarify in the comments, stating that he was not mimicking Eilish in a similar fashion. Rivera commented:

Billie told fans not to impersonate her in public, due to bad influencing and safety reasons.

I genuinely respect her wish and not did the prank in public. I surprised my near friends in my house with Yani dressed like her.

Rivera’s clip mainly shows his friends reacting to Yani dressed as Eilish in iconic neon green aesthetic.

Nonetheless, a portion of his explanation doesn’t hold true, as the video indeed features public interactions. Specifically, there is a scene where the group visits a fast-food drive-thru, and Rivera inquires if a team member wants to pose with the Ocean Eyes performer.

The YouTuber’s video seemed to upset some of her fans, who accused Rivera of disrespecting Eilish. They said he was trying to increase his notoriety by intentionally mocking her.

A commenter on the platform wrote, “Wasn’t the video representing the exact thing Billie does not want the influencers to do?”

Similarly, other commenters added similar sorts of comments and said that Yani doesn’t even resemble the real Billie Eilish and hardly looks like her.

Eilish recently released No Time To Die, the theme song for the James Bond film. She openly revealed her struggles with fame and said that impersonating her was unsafe.

At times, she has been notably ambushed by fans and publicly booed if she refused to sign autographs.