EXCLUSIVE: Inside Taylor Swift’s ‘vicious campaign’ against Billie Eilish: As feud escalates, insiders say Taylor is ‘jealous’ of younger star’s success and is ‘weaponizing her fans’ to target her ‘latest victim’

Another day, another Taylor Swift feud. For weeks, rumors have been swirling of behind-the-scenes friction between Swift and Billie Eilish, with eagle-eyed fans highlighting a series of perceived slights between the two mega-stars. Now it seems we finally have proof that the ‘beef’ is not just imagined.’Industry insiders aren’t blind to the fact that Taylor is weaponizing her fans and that Billie appears to be the latest victim in that campaign,’ a source close to Eilish, 22, exclusively told DailyMail.com.

‘Whenever Taylor feels jealous of a peer’s success, she does all she can to make sure her fans start vicious online campaigns to bring that person down without ever telling them to stop. And all while operating under the guise of being America’s sweetheart,’ the insider added. The explosive claims come after Swift, 34, and Eilish have both released new albums in recent months, sparking a fierce battle for the top of the charts, with Billie said to be the focus of increased attacks by Taylor’s fans online.

Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ has maintained the No.1 position on Billboard’s album rankings since its release on April 19. However, some critics have suggested that Swift has only kept it there in part by periodically releasing variant and extended editions to keep sales and streaming figures high.

In total, Swift has now put out over 20 variants of TTPD. That she dropped two of these ‘special’ editions the same day as Eilish released her new album ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft’ last month was perceived by many as an attempt to trample the competition. The move even prompted Eilish’s manager Danny Rukasin to re-share – and then later delete – a tweet accusing Swift of ‘breaking her neck doing everything to prevent other artists from shining’.

The tweet implied Swift had similarly timed releases in the past to hinder artists such as Katy Perry and SZA. But it’s not just Swift’s perceived gaming of the charts that appears to have rattled Eilish. Back in March, Eilish hit out at ‘wasteful’ artists who make ‘f***ing 40 different vinyl packages […] just to get you to keep buying more.’ Swift currently has 11 different vinyl albums for sale on her site – and though Eilish insisted she wasn’t ‘singling anyone out’, fans quickly made the link, with many Swifties attacking her for the statement.

None of which was helped by further comments Eilish made last month, first slamming songs that are obviously aimed at an individual as ‘frustrating’ (Swift is known for her many breakup and ‘diss’ tracks directed at her exes, enemies and former friends), and then saying that artists who performed ‘three-hour shows’ – like Swift’s ongoing Eras Tour – were ‘literally psychotic… nobody wants that.’