Chappell Roan condemns fans for “creepy behaviour”
American singer Chappell Roan has openly condemned “creepy” fan behaviour on the social sharing platform TikTok, revealing that she has been “harassed” and “stalked” online and in person.
Since releasing her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, Roan’s popularity has skyrocketed. Despite being a year old, the record recently hit number one in the United Kingdom for the first time, and Roan’s single ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ is also now her most-streamed to date with over 500 million listens on Spotify.
In two recent videos, the singer began by posing a series of questions to her audience: “If you saw a random woman on the street, would you yell at her from the car window? Would you go up to a random lady and say, ‘Can I get a photo with you?'”
Roan then explained that she doesn’t “care that abuse and harassment is a normal thing to do to people who are famous or a little famous,” arguing that the normalisation of such behaviour “does not make it OK.”
Before performing under her current moniker, Roan released a series of tracks in 2017 and 2018 but has only hit mainstream success globally over the last year. In response to the sudden rise to fame, Roan has addressed her overwhelm at several recent shows, including one in North Carolina when she tearily explained she felt “my career is just kind of going really fast and it’s really hard to keep up.”
The 26-year-old also recently caused concern when she spoke out about the stalker “vibes” she got from fans, stating that she worried her family was “in danger”, which caused her to re-evaluate being in the spotlight.
Her latest videos, in which she claims “I am allowed to say no to creepy behaviour,” have sparked ongoing discourse about the perceived blurred lines between what is deemed acceptable and not acceptable regarding fan behaviour.
“Extremely insensitive”
A growing list of famous figures have called out inappropriate fan behaviour of late, including Justin Bieber, who previously compared his own fan culture to making him feel like a “zoo animal”.
Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke also said she decided to set boundaries and decline requests for photos, arguing that signing something yields much more connectivity “as opposed to someone just going, ‘Give us a selfie, goodbye.'”
Following Roan’s videos, singer Lizzo posted a stitch to TikTok explaining her perspective and expressing support for her fellow musician. She explained, “She has the right to speak up for herself. She has the right to feel what she’s feeling,” adding that those who argue, “This is what you signed up for,” when famous figures complain about fandom, are unacceptable.
She referred to a recent interview with Tyler, the Creator, in which he argued that technological advancements have removed significant barriers and enabled intrusive behaviour to thrive.
Lizzo also maintained that speaking out isn’t about “shaming fans,” noting, “It’s just a reminder that we’re all human. Look at the way Love Island had to put out a whole statement saying this is severely affecting the mental health of the cast. And for people to say, ‘This is what you signed up for’, is wild and extremely insensitive and just absolutely untrue.”
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