Why do headphones make my phone act possessed?

[Android Central Question]

I've had this phone for about a year without ever experiencing this before. When I try to listen to Spotify or SoundCloud, and sometimes my podcast app, the playback starts skipping tracks or pausing. And my Google Assistant, which I've never used, keeps popping up on the screen as if I've summoned it. I have not!

I managed to stop the problem when I turned off some feature related to Bluetooth. I saw the lyrics I was hearing in my headphones appearing in Google Assistant as if I was typing it. I don't know how I found that function, but I never changed it back and the problem started again anyway. It's worse at some times than others. What can I do?

 

[SpookDroid]

Have you tried different headphones? Sounds like the control buttons on the headphones is acting up (Assistant pops up if you long-press the play/control button on most headphones), and of course that would explain the random skipping, too.