Billie Eilish says she was “just helping a fan” after Kanye West demanded an apology from her on behalf of fellow rapper Travis Scott.
The Bad Guy singer, 20, denied making reference to the tragedy at Scott’s performance at the Astroworld music festival during one of her recent shows, when she stopped the music to allow an audience member to be helped.
In clips of the show shared online, she can be heard saying: “I wait for people to be ok until I keep going.”
Ten people died as fans surged toward the stage during a performance by Scott at the two-day festival in Houston, Texas in November last year.
Global megastar West said he would not perform his headline slot at this year’s Coachella music festival if Eilish did not apologise for her remarks.
In a post on social media he reiterated Scott’s claims that he did not know fans were being injured while onstage and said Scott was “very hurt by what happened”.
“Come on Billie we love you please apologise to Trav and to the families of the people who lost their lives no one intended this to happen,” he wrote on Instagram in all capitals.
“Trav didn’t have any idea what was happening when he was on stage and was very hurt by what happened.”
He added: “And yes Trav will be with me at Coachella but now I need Billie to apologise before I perform.”
West, who has legally changed his name to Ye, was recently named as one of the southern California festival’s three main headliners, alongside Eilish and Harry Styles.
Eilish, who was named international artist of the year for the third-consecutive year at the Brit awards on Tuesday, denied she had referenced Scott.
“Literally never said a thing about Travis. Was just helping a fan,” she wrote in reply to West’s Instagram post.
Scott recently welcomed his second child with partner Kylie Jenner who is the sister of Kim Kardashian.
The reality star filed for divorce from West in February last year.