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Chappell Roan isn't like the other girls. At least, she's certainly a new breed of celebrity.
The pop superstar shot to international fame in a matter of months earlier this year. Five of her songs worked their way to the Billboard Hot 100 – her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess shot to number one on the US iTunes chart. By July, she had racked up 24 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Her relatively modest tour sold out. Resale tickets to her shows in London skyrocketed (I should know, I tried to get one). After ten years of slowly climbing her way through the music industry, Chappell Roan has suddenly found herself at the top.
But in fascinating twist of events, Chappell hasn't exactly embraced every aspect of her hard-won stardom. Rather, she has consistently fought against her celebrity status — and in the process, she has revealed an uncomfortable truth about the current state of celebrity in our culture.
We are, after all, at an interesting moment when it comes to celebrity culture. The noughties era of intrusive tabloids may be a thing of the past, but social media has since become a breeding ground for superfans and stans. Fan accounts and gossip channels fixate on their favourite celebs and overanalyse every detail of their lives. Nothing is off limits.
And in the real world, this has translated into — well — some pretty unhinged behaviour. Fans demand photos from their favourite celebs or shove cameras in their faces. Celebrity lip reading videos often go viral, as viewers try to analyse private conversations.
For the most part, modern celebrities have been media trained within an inch of their lives. Every move they make, every outfit they wear, every interaction they have is pre-planned and precise. And, of course, they are never seen to reject their fans — even the very, very intense ones.
But not Chappell Roan. Instead, Chappell has called out fame and fan behaviour for what it is. “I feel like fame is just abusive," Chappell said to The Face. "The vibe of this – stalking, talking sh*t 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.”
Here are seven ways the pop sensation is fighting against celebrity culture from the inside out.
The Midwest Princess Tour has arrived at London's O2 Academy Brixton!
Chappell uses a drag persona to separate herself from her career
Chappell Roan is the stage name of Kayleigh Rose Amstutz — and it's also the singer's drag persona. After all, the Chappell Roan you see performing on stage and talking in interviews is not the Kayleigh Rose Amstutz that her friends and family know. “Chappell Roan is my drag project," she said on the podcast Q with Tom Power. "And, I think, that’s also helped personally to separate it as a job, and me as Kayleigh.”
Her outfits are bold and surreal. She has dressed as a swan, a pig, even the Statue of Liberty. As Genesis Webb, the singer's stylist, told the New York Times, she helps the rising pop star put together drag-inspired looks that are “glamorous, but also ugly and confusing.”
She promised to step back from her career if her fame got too much
Unlike many stars, there is a limit for Chappell Roan on how much she can take. In fact, she'd rather stop her career in its tracks than deal with certain abuse from fans as a result of her stardom.
Speaking to Drew Afualo on The Comment Section podcast, Chappell spoke about some creepy fan behaviour. “People have started to be freaks — like, [they] follow me and know where my parents live, and where my sister works. All this weird shit.”
She added that this is why she had slowed things down. “I’m just kind of in this battle… I’ve pumped the brakes on, honestly, anything to make me more known. It’s kind of a forest fire right now. I’m not trying to go do a bunch of shit.”
AKA your favourite artist's favourite artist.
She says "no". A lot.
Chappell Roan has also turned down a lot of opportunities – not only to protect her family but to protect her own mental health.
“I hope I look back at this time and still stand behind all the nos that I’ve said, because I say no to pretty much everything right now,” she told Bowen Yang for Interview Magazine. "I don’t want to f*cking go back into the mental hospital because I don’t know how to handle my emotions. I hope I don’t look back and I’m like, ‘Damn, if I just would’ve sucked it up and pushed a little harder.’ I don’t think I will, but I’m always scared of that.
She has set some clear boundaries with her fans
In August, Chappell took to TikTok to open up about some of the intrusive fan behaviour she had experienced since her meteoric rise – and to set some boundaries in two videos.
“I don't care that abuse and harassment, stalking, whatever, is a normal thing to do to people who are famous… I don't care that this crazy type of behaviour comes along with the job… that does not make it okay,” she said in one video.
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The singer later posted a clarifying statement on Instagram, writing, “I've been in too many non-consensual physical and social interactions and I just need to lay it out and remind you, women don't owe you shit. I chose this career path because I love music and art and honouring my inner child, I do not accept harassment of any kind because I chose this path, nor do I deserve it."
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She called out a paparazzo on the red carpet. Twice.
Chappell Roan doesn't just call out weird fan behaviour, she also calls out inappropriate behaviour on the red carpet. At the 2024 VMAs, the singer called out a photographer who seemingly told her to "Shut the f*ck up,” replying, “No, you shut the f*ck up!”
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She came across another photographer who had been rude while at the GUTS World Premiere — in a clip, she can be seen saying, “You were so disrespectful to me at the Grammys,” she said. “You yelled at me at the Grammy party ... Yes, I remember. You were so rude to me, and I deserve an apology for that ... You need to apologise to me."
Great minds think alike.
She called out her own VIP section
Chappell is also willing to call out audience members who don't pass the vibe check. Just take the time she called out her own VIP section for being “too cool” to do her dance to Hot To Go.
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She got emotional on stage
Chappell Roan has also been open about the emotional toll of her rise to fame. In June, the singer got vulnerable with fans while on stage in North Carolina.
“I guess I just want to be honest with the crowd," she said. "I just feel a little off today ‘cause I think that my career is going really fast and it’s really hard to keep up. So I’m just being honest that I’m just having a hard time today. So sorry that — I’m not trying to give you, like, a lesser show. It’s just, there’s a lot… Thank you for understanding. This is all I’ve ever wanted. It’s just heavy sometimes, I think.”
