David Letterman praised for reaction to Billie Eilish's Tourette Syndrome twitching during interview

Billie Eilish shared that she was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at the age of 11
UPDATED APR 19, 2023
Billie Eilish appeared on David Letterman's show 'My Next Guest Needs No Introduction' (Kevin Winter and Jesse Grant for Getty Images)
Billie Eilish appeared on David Letterman's show 'My Next Guest Needs No Introduction' (Kevin Winter and Jesse Grant for Getty Images)

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: David Letterman has received a ton of praise for his way of approach while interviewing Billie Eilish after the young singer began twitching due to her Tourette Syndrome. The instance appeared to be not part of the chat session and looked entirely spontaneous. The clip taken from the Letterman's show called 'My Next Guest Needs No Introduction' on Netflix has garnered over five million views as of now. 

During the 2022 interview, Eilish suddenly started to tick, caused by her nervous system disorder. The TV host, who was evidently concerned for his guest, at first asked if there was a fly. To which Eilish responded, "No, I'm ticking." Letterman then asked her about the trigger that caused it and the 21-year-old singer simply admitted, "The Lights." The talk show host with an experience of 33 years then proceeded to respectfully ask for permission to discuss it and also considered deleting any part that Eilish was not comfortable with.

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'Is that okay, or not okay?'

"What's going on, there's a fly," Letterman asked Eilish when she twitched during the interview. After the 'Your Power' singer admitted that she was ticking, Letterman surprised the viewers with his way of conduct. "Is that okay, or not okay?," he asked Eilish about showing her tics on-air. To which the singer gave a green signal. The interview then took a surprise turn with Letterman asking for Eilish's permission to discuss it and the singer happily complied. “I really love answering questions about it because it’s very, very interesting, and I am incredibly confused by it,” Eilish said before adding “I don’t get it.”

Eilish opens up about Tourette syndrome

This unscripted part of the interview featured Eilish opening up about her Tourette syndrome and her struggles with it. "If you film me for long enough, you’re gonna see lots of tics," the singer told Letterman. Eilish shared that she was diagnosed with Tourette's at the age of 11, adding that a lot of others who share the same condition don't even realize they have it. “What’s funny is so many people have it that you would never know,” Eilish stated. “A couple artists came forward and said, ‘I’ve actually always had Tourette’s,’ and I’m not gonna out them because they don’t wanna talk about it, but that was actually really interesting to me.”

'He's curious but still respectful'

Letterman's way of approach to the situation has received a lot of praise from fans. "I'm so shocked to see an interviewer have so much respect and kindness towards someone, especially someone with a health problem. Absolutely love this and I'm so happy she's comfortable enough to talk about it and not feel the need to hide," a top comment read. "The way he asked permission before proceeding to discuss about Billie’s Tourettes," another user wrote. "I really like his approach to this conversation, he's curious but still respectful," a third user said.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.

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