Hypocrites aside, it’s been a busy few weeks for Chappell Roan trolls.
The show cancellations come just weeks after the Good Luck Babe! singer told a photographer to “shut the f*** up” at the VMAs red carpet, after the photographer could be heard on video saying it to her first. Out came the trolls, fingers ferociously banging on the keyboards, wasting broadband to tell us all Roan is not built for fame because - let me get this right - she did not let someone get away with being rude to her.
Before that, in August, Roan had come out against predatory behaviour from fans. The reaction to her very level-headed comments against creepy stalker behaviour was immediately translated into some variation of “Chappell Roan hates her fans” by people with zero critical thinking skills on the internet, a place completely devoid of any kind of nuance.
More recently, there was her refusal to endorse a political party in the upcoming US election. She made a video where she carefully explained why she did not want to fully endorse Kamala Harris, even though she will be voting for her. She laid it all out: why she thinks Kamala is the best option and how she would not endorse Harris but would vote for her and then keep holding her accountable once elected. The reaction to her explanation was yet another example of how the internet is not the place for nuanced, balanced discourse. It also made me think about how we seem to demand more from artists than we do from public elected officials, the ones who are actually meant to represent us and whose salaries taxpayers fund. I guess it’s easier to scream at a young woman online than it is to write a letter to your government representative.
No article written about Chappell Roan lately (and there have been a few) fails to mention just how meteoric her side to fame has been. This time last year virtually no one knew her name, now she’s one of the biggest music stars in the world. As Kate Solomon wrote in the Guardian last month, “she’s gone from cult figure to icon in less time than it takes to grow out a fringe”. This could, in part, explain why so many people find it so easy to criticise her. There’s a feeling among her audience that she hasn’t quite earned her level of fame. But how exactly would they like to earn her fame, though? The honest answer seems to be by suffering.
Chappell Roan is refusing to accept that suffering should be part of the deal and people are furious about it because how dare this woman not let herself be torn to shreds like we’ve done to pop stars in the past?
Society has a longstanding tradition of tearing women down when they reach the top. In that sense, the reaction to Chappell Roan’s comments is not surprising. She has something that our society still deems highly valuable: fame. What’s worst is that, to those who don’t know her trajectory, it feels like she seemingly got it overnight, and not by working hard at her craft for a whole decade. Chappell Roan annoys so many of us because she’s lifting the veil to show that fame, that thing we all collectively decided is so great, actually comes with some pretty rubbish strings attached. That it comes with stalkers and screamers and a lack of privacy and just overall a lot of other things she’d rather not deal with because, truly, she just likes to make music.
In that Guardian interview, she explained it clearly that her gripe is not with fame itself but with the extra layer of abuse that seems to come with it. “They think I’m complaining about my success. I’m complaining about being abused,” she said.
Chappell Roan is loud and vocal about what she wants and doesn’t want, she advocates for herself in a way we are not used to seeing women do. She’s unapologetic about looking after herself and she’s reminding us all that, like any other woman, she owes us no explanations. By sharing her struggles, she is making us think differently about fame and how we treat women in the spotlight. Misogyny makes that a tough pill to swallow for many.
When cancelling her two shows a few days ago, Chappell Roan told fans “things have gotten really overwhelming the past few weeks”. I don’t have a witty conclusion to this piece. I just hope those slamming Chappell Roan for the cancellations never have to call off work for similar reasons. Most of all, I hope Chappell Roan is okay and can get through this period of her life with the same joy for life that got her to create some of the music she’s gifted us so far. If she doesn’t, it’ll be our fault, and our loss.
