Over the summer, pop princess Chappell Roan released several statements setting boundaries and asking her fans not to be creepy. These statements were met with mixed reactions: Some loved them, some hated them, and some thought she was setting a bold new industry precedent.
Over the past year, Roan’s popularity has skyrocketed. From viral hits like “HOT TO GO!” and “Good Luck, Babe!” to opening for Olivia Rodrigo and accidently “headlining” Lollapalooza, it’s safe to say her years of hard work have paid off. But at what cost? As a Rolling Stone article pointed out, for her, normal no longer exists. Being famous often entails having all personal affairs broadcast to the public: Who’s dating who, who’s going where, and what’s been worn or said are cataloged and speculated about by fans and paparazzi. That’s just part of the job, right? Chappell Roan certainly doesn’t think so. Roan’s statements ask us to reconsider this standard of celebrity culture and invasive fan behavior.
The first statement came in the form of a two-part video posted to TikTok on Aug. 19. In the first part, Chappell Roan asks viewers if they would do the following to a random lady on the street: yell at her, harass her, ask her for a photo, get mad when she says no, stalk her and her family, dissect her life, and bully her online. Obviously not; that would be strange and creepy behavior toward someone you don’t know. “I’m a random [person], you’re a random [person],” she says.
In the second part of the TikTok video, Roan emphatically says she doesn't care that abuse and stalking are routine for celebrities. To her, those things are not okay and she doesn’t want them. She reserves her right to say no to creepy behavior.
If you are like me, you initially thought this statement was somewhat entitled. Yes, harassment and bullying are bad, but they are part of being famous. She wanted to be famous, and now that she is, she’s complaining about the consequences. It’s sad that she feels this way, but she signed up for this way of life. Didn’t she get where she is off the backs of her fans? Shouldn’t she be grateful for where she is? Doesn’t she owe it to fans to interact with them?
If these thoughts went through your head, I see you. I hear you. But you are wrong. (I was wrong at first, too—no worries.) There are a few things I think you should consider. First, Roan has had several horrible interactions with fans. In July, fans got ahold of her flight details and waited for her at an airport in Seattle. A man there got aggressive with her when she refused to give him an autograph and the police had to intervene. After the return flight, the same man was waiting for her at the airport in Los Angeles. In August, she was grabbed and kissed by a fan while out for a friend’s birthday. Her father’s phone number was leaked and a stalker has shown up at her parents’ house. This type of behavior from “fans” is unacceptable. She was not wrong to call out this kind of behavior and request that people stop acting this way.
Creepy or not, you may still consider this behavior to be part of being a super-famous pop star. As some fans have pointed out, she’s not simply a “random person”; she’s famous now and these are facts of stardom. Though no one wants to deal with this behavior, some people are expected to. But just because this is the current culture of fan behavior doesn’t mean that it has to remain so. Why should a person have to give up their human dignity just because the world knows who they are? Perhaps we should start treating celebrities like people instead of like animals in the zoo. Chappell Roan is a human being. (Shocking, I know.) Underneath all the fame and costumes is a person just like you or me. A person who wants to feel safe, be treated well, and not have her privacy invaded. Being famous should not void her (or anyone else’s) right to these things.
Four days after her initial statement, Roan reiterated her “need to draw lines and set boundaries” in an Instagram post. She does not think fans’ admiration necessitates her attention. Exchanges should be between her fans and her art, not between her as a person and the fans as individuals—we don’t know her and she doesn’t know us. She clarifies that she is talking specifically about predatory behavior and likens asking why she chose this field when fame equals harassment to the idea that a woman who wears a short skirt and gets harassed shouldn’t have worn the skirt. “It is not the woman’s duty to suck it up and take it,” she says. “It is the harasser’s duty to be a decent person, leave her alone, and respect that she can wear whatever she wants and still deserve peace in this world.”
Roan should not have to put up with mentally and physically damaging behavior to show that she is grateful for where she is. In her words, this has “nothing to do with the gratitude and love I feel for my community… and for the love I feel from every person who lifts me up and has stuck with me to help the project get to where it is now.”
Considerate fans (and decent people) would do well to respect Roan’s boundaries when it comes to fan interaction. If you still feel upset by her statements, I, like Roan, would recommend you ask yourself, “Why is a girl expressing her fears and boundaries so infuriating?”
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.