This past year, we have seen the rapid rise to fame of queer pop newcomer, Chappell Roan. Since the release of her debut studio album, ‘The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,’ last September, she has taken the world by storm in her short time being in the spotlight.
Just this year, she has accomplished feats such as drawing a historically large audience at this year’s Lollapalooza music festival and earning Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs). While Roan adjusts to her newfound fame, she has been extremely vocal, calling out those who have disrupted her safety, privacy and respect.
Roan has garnered much attention from media across platforms for her outspoken behavior. Some, like myself, applaud her for being brave enough to defend herself and set basic boundaries with fans to combat harmful behavior, but the bigger picture is that she is defending herself against a continuous history of harassment against female artists.
On Aug. 19, Roan uploaded two videos on her TikTok account and later, on Aug. 23, a multi-slide Instagram post, all bluntly addressing her feelings and concerns about the way fans have acted towards her since she has gained celebrity status, recalling excessive predatory “superfan” behaviors that include the harassment and stalking of her and her family. She also stated that, regardless of her celebrity status, the parasocial relationships that she has been on the receiving end of from some of her fans is “not normal” and that their behavior is unacceptable.
“Please do not assume you know a lot about someone’s life, personality and boundaries because you are familiar with them or their work online,” Roan said.
She also emphasizes her argument that though she understands celebrity status comes with both wanted and unwanted attention and is grateful for the opportunities she has received being in the spotlight, she will not accept “creepy people, being touched, and being followed.”
Additionally, in a recent incident at the 2024 VMAs, a photographer at the show’s red carpet was shown to be verbally aggressive towards Roan, which prompted her to stand up for herself and bluntly confront the photographer. Roan’s reaction was purely defensive, as she only used her words to combat the photographer’s unprompted, disrespectful behavior.
Still, certain people have called her out for “complaining” and for being ungrateful and rude to her fans. Those who disagree with her say that treatment like that is normal and that it isn’t anyone else’s responsibility that she can’t “handle fame.” This assessment shows how tone deaf others can be, and how often people discard real concerns that have long plagued women in the music industry.
Harassment towards women in the music industry is uncomfortably common, and it is something that is not nearly talked or cared about enough. There have been so many incidents in the past where this predatory behavior has been repeated to multiple female artists that has put them in dangerous situations, such as singer Taylor Swift’s stalker loitering outside of her house with a weapon and singer/actress Selena Gomez choosing to sell her home out of fear due to multiple stalking incidents. Time and time again, it seems as if celebrities are viewed as only the art that they provide, lacking the humanity they deserve as much as the next person.
As fans, part of showing your admiration to someone is also granting them basic human decency and respect. Artists don’t owe anyone anything, and the fact that people are overlooking Roan’s very real worries about her safety and respect is so baffling to me. We should look to her as an example showing that celebrities have the right to speak up for themselves whenever they are being mistreated, harassed or anything in; at the end of the day, regardless of their fame and their knowledge of what comes with it, they are still human beings and they have the right to speak up for themselves, their peace and their livelihood.
