Chappell Roan says fame is like “an abusive ex-husband”
Chappell Roan has said that the effects of fame are like dealing with “an abusive ex-husband”, in a new interview.
Roan has been vocal about her experiences of fame in recent months. She recently took to TikTok to share her thoughts on “weird” and “creepy” fan behaviour, questioning why people felt they could yell at her from their car, get mad at her for refusing to take photos, stalk her, or otherwise harass her because of her celebrity status.
She later said that harassment “is a normal thing to do to people who are famous or a little famous”, but “that does not make it OK” or “normal”.
Now, Roan has said that she feels fame is “abusive”. In a new interview with The Face, the singer likened the experience to dealing with an “abusive ex-husband”, saying: “The vibe of this – stalking, talking shit online, [people who] won’t leave you alone, yelling at you in public – is the vibe of an abusive ex-husband. That’s what it feels like. I didn’t know it would feel this bad.”
Explaining her comments, Roan recalled a recent experience when, upon arriving at the airport at 5:30am, she was met by “two guys waiting with a bunch of posters and shit for me to sign.”
“I know they’re not fans,” she explained. “I said no. I was like, ‘I don’t sign anything at the airport, I’m sorry.’ [One of them] follows me to the TSA line, starts yelling at me and everyone just turns and looks. He’s like: ‘You should really humble yourself. Do you know where you are right now? Don’t forget where you came from.’ I’m just like: ‘What the fuck is going on?’ I told myself, if this ever gets dangerous, I might quit. It’s dangerous now, and I’m still going. But that part is not what I signed up for.”
She also revealed that Lorde reached out to share her own experiences dealing with fame and negativity at a young age. “She sent me a list of things I should do,” Roan said. “Literally wrote down eight things she wished someone would have told her when she was going through it. And she went through fucking hell. She was a baby!”
After her comments on fan behaviour, a plethora of the biggest names in music reached out to the former NME Cover star in support including including Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, Katy Perry, MUNA, Miley Cyrus, boygenius, Sabrina Carpenter and Mitski.
Prior to Roan’s videos addressing her fans, she had expressed wanting to “[pump] the brakes” on her career after fans gave off “stalker vibes”. Her remarks earned her praise from Paramore‘s Hayley Williams, who took to Instagram to say the pop star was “brave”.
Elsewhere at the MTV VMAs last week, Roan hit back at a photographer who seemingly told her to “shut the fuck up” on the red carpet. Ahead of the ceremony, the rising pop star faced some backlash for cancelling two European shows due to “scheduling conflicts”. She then posted images of herself in rehearsals for the VMAs.
Last September, Roan released her debut studio album ‘The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess’ to wide acclaim. In a four-star review, NME described it as “a display of Roan’s bold and brazen pen, where she places searing revelations alongside some deliciously cheeky choruses”.
It has since topped the UK album chart almost a year after its release – something Elton John congratulated her on.
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Laura Molloy
NME
