Chappell Roan wants fans to respect her boundaries. Will they?

The Midwest Princess's rise to fame has been accompanied by a rise in inappropriate fan behavior

Aug 30, 2024

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"I feel more love than I ever have in my life. I feel the most unsafe I have ever felt in my life."

That's what singer Chappell Roan wrote in an Instagram post explaining how fans have been violating her boundaries by stalking her family as well as her, bullying her online, heckling her on the street, and reacting poorly when she turns down a photo or physical request.

"I don't agree with the notion that I owe a mutual exchange of energy, time, or attention to people I do not know, do not trust, or who creep me out," she wrote. "Women do not owe you a reason why they don't want to be touched or talked to."

Chappell Roan quickly rose to fame from what some journalists coined “pop’s middle class.” Her slow-burning career skyrocketed after the release of her single “Good Luck Babe.” She was the opener for Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS world tour, and after a successful Coachella set and Tiny Desk Concert, BAM. She was everywhere.

Amazon Music said Chappell is “bringing tacky to the masses.” When she talks in interviews, she seems shy and down-to-earth, and yet when she’s on the stage, she transforms into her larger-than-life-superstar drag persona. Her appeal comes from the fact that she’s unapologetically herself.

Before her Instagram post, she broke down her feelings in two TikTok videos, which received a mix response online. Some criticized Chappell’s response, comparing her to celebrities like Madison Beer who had “complete opposite dynamics with their fans,” or even memed on her.

"The massive gap in her lovable stage persona and her inescapable TikTok video diaries that make her seem like a retail employee or an angry mom really needs to be resolved," X user @VlRTUALBOY wrote. In a response to @PopCrave's repost of the videos, another X user asked, "She doesn't know being famous comes with lots of sacrifices?"

chappellroan

A post shared by @chappellroan

Chappell made it clear in her IG post she's "not looking for anyone's response," and hence, turned off comments. "I'm not afraid of the consequences for demanding respect," she said. "If you see me as a bitch or ungrateful or my entire statement upsets you, baby that's you...you gotta look inward and ask yourself 'wait why am I so upset by this? Why is a girl expressing her fears and boundaries so infuriating?'"

Chappell is far from the first artist who's asked for her boundaries to be respected. X user @SavLovesSwift responded to PopCrave’s repost with "She's not wrong but Doja [Cat] got canceled for saying the same thing 👀”

In 2023, Doja Cat riffed with her fanbase, discouraging the use of her personal name, even responding to one fan accounts's request that Doja tell the fans she loves them with "I don't though because I don't even know y'all." It resulted in her being softly “cancelled,” losing thousands of followers.

I think about these lyrics from Taylor Swift's song "The Lucky One:” “And they tell you that you're lucky, but you're so confused / 'cause you don't feel pretty, you just feel used.” Just the other week, Taylor had to defend her decision to remain silent immediately after her Vienna shows were canceled due to terrorist threats.

“Let me be very clear: I am not going to speak about something publicly if I think doing so might provoke those who would want to harm the fans who come to my shows,” she said. “In cases like this one, ‘silence’ is actually showing restraint, and waiting to express yourself at a time when it’s right to. My priority was finishing our European tour safely.”

As internet fame grows, so, too, does the parasocial relationship fans have with their idols. Fans think celebrities owe them something, whether that’s an autograph, a hug, or a statement after a bomb threat.

I talked about online parasocial relationships in this “Club Chalamet” piece – essentially a one-sided relationship where fans feel like they deeply know the celebrity, going so far as to consider themselves friends, while the celebrity has no idea they exist. Some celebrities choose to benefit off this relationship, as it builds a strong, loyal fanbase, while others feel it goes too far.

"It's weird how people think that you know a person just because you see them online and you listen to the art they make," Chappell said in her video. "I'm allowed to say no to creepy behavior, okay?"

The conflict comes when public reception meets private personality. Someone like Chappell, who rose to fame quickly, didn’t have time to adjust to the sudden onslaught of expectations that come with being in the public eye. At the same time, the fans’ bad behavior has never been called out before, so they take poorly to one of their idols drawing a line in the sand.

The question remains, can the celebrity reconcile with their fans? Or, like in Taylor Swift’s song “The Lucky One,” is the only option to leave entirely, letting people “tell the legend of how you disappeared / how you took the money and your dignity and got the hell out?”