British-Filipino singer Beabadoobee is under heat by fans after a controversial message over internet memes about her singing.
Beatrice Ilejay Laus, better known as Beabadoobee, is a songwriter from London, England. She began her career in 2017, and, in just eight years, has risen to fame for her pop music, amassing over twenty million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Making it all the more impressive, she has accomplished all of this at the age of 24.
Some notable songs from Beabadoobee, all of which have over 100 million streams on Spotify, include Coffee, The Perfect Pair, Real Man, The Moon Song, A Night to Remember, The Way Things Go, Tired, and Glue Song.”
Being relatively controversy-free, Beabadoobee was well-loved by fans and the general public until recently.
What Sparked the Controversy?
On February 21st, 2025, Beabadoobee took to TikTok to upload three story posts detailing her feelings regarding trending internet memes about her singing. In these story posts, Beabadoobee does not hold back any punches and states that the people making the memes are “[ugly, get no girls, and have mothers that don’t love them].” She also states, in a condescending tone, that the post creators are just men, insinuating being a man is a negative trait.
But that’s not all, Beabadoobee doubles down, mentioning that she has “more money [than the ones making the memes].” She further goes on to call them incels. With Beabadoobee’s hostile response, her fans and others involved in the drama started to fight back.
A few comments from X users responding to Beabadoobee’s TikTok story include, ” How did everybody except her realize it was a joke?” and “This reaction went too far.”
Why Beabadoobee got Mad
The memes that made Beabadoobee crashout were clips of her singing followed up by a clip of a different artist singing. The videos would have the title, “Artists who can sing vs. Artists who can’t sing,” and feature Beabadoobee as the artist who can’t sing.
The posts would also often feature NBA Youngboy as an “artist who can sing” with opera playing in the background. The videos are particularly ironic because NBA Youngboy does not sing opera. Furthermore, NBA Youngboy is known for his rap, and not for his singing ability.
The memes, not meant to be taken seriously, are inspired by the trend of rage-bait posts. Rage-bait posts are a class of social media posts that are worded and designed to make users angry and upset. This is generally done to garner a reaction from certain people or to obtain interactions, such as comments, on posts.
Rage-bait posts often place the audience in a lose-lose situation. Going along with the joke leaves the audience stuck with a potentially bothersome joke. On the other hand, commenting that the memes are annoying gives the post a lot more traction.
Beabadoobee decided to go with the latter option. She fell for the rage-bait posts and gave the meme creators the reaction they were hoping for.
Beabadoobee’s Second Response
Overwhelmed by the backlash of her original February 21st story posts, Beabadoobee tried to justify her actions. She uploaded a few more story posts responding to the criticism.
In these story posts, Beabadoobee compares the people posting the memes to someone “prodding [her] with a stick” and “constantly shoving [the joke] into [her] face.” She further goes on to note that the jokes were funny at first; however, they have grown old and rude.
While some TikTok users sympathized with Beabadoobee, the general response to her justification was vastly negative.
One reason for the negative reaction to Beabadoobee’s response was due to the fact she apologized passive-aggressively. She did not seem genuinely apologetic for the comments she made in her original story posts.
Some comments from TikTok users include, “All that yap and no genuine apology is crazy,” and “I understand her being angry but her being aggressive towards people and just being egotistical is just immature.”
Another factor contributing to the negative response was Beabadoobee’s denial of her sexist remarks towards men.
“I’m sorry if that affected you, I’m sorry if saying I got more girls than you affected you,” Beabadoobee explained. “respectfully I don’t think that’s sexism. As a woman in the 21st century, I feel like I have experienced a lot of sexism, especially in the music industry and I know what it feels like.”
Many fans completely disagreed with her statement, and comments from TikTok users reflect this sentiment. “‘It’s not sexism because I’ve experienced sexism’ – Beabadoobee,” one TikTok user jokingly remarks. Another TikTok user claims, “No one cared that she said she gets more girls, she literally said ‘and you’re still a man’ like that’s sexist, not the more girls part.”
What’s next for Beabadoobee?
Despite the recent controversy, Beabadoobee’s career continues. On January 23rd, 2025, Beabadoobee was nominated for the Brits Awards Artist of the Year and best alternative/rock act.
While she may not have won the award at the Brits, which took place on March 1st, 2025, Beabadoobee has her eyes set on the horizon. A recent Instagram post from Beabadoobee mentions that she will be performing at the Glastonbury Festival on June 28th, 2025.
As for more recent upcoming performances, Beabadoobee is going on tour in April of this year. Her tour starts in Vancouver, CN on April 8th, 2025, and ends in Raleigh, NC on June 16th, 2025. Beabadoobee’s official website lists all exact tour dates and their locations as well as the details of other future performances.
While Beabadoobee still gets occasional comments regarding her meltdown, the amount of people upset with her has decreased.
“You yapped 1 time yabadaboodaa we forgive you now,” one user humorously wrote on a recent Beabadoobee Instagram post. Another Instagram user commented, “I forgive you Bea just keep making bangers.”
Funnily enough, although the memes were joking about Beabadoobee not being able to sing, Beabadoobee’s ability to sing is one of the primary factors helping her regain her public image.
