Hot new ‘femininomenon,’ Singer/Songwriter Chappell Roan, has finally taken off in the music industry after social media propelled her 2023 album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, to the top of the charts.
Now after almost a decade, she has finally achieved her dream of becoming a pop superstar; she has at last reached fame… but at what cost?
Although Chappell Roan has been building her music career for the past 10 years and has been in the industry for a while, she seems to have gone from under the radar to pop superstar in the span of just several months.
The media has begun to recognize her talent and people seem to adore her for her relatable themes, funky beats, and the clever ambiguity in her lyrics.
However, Chappell’s rise to stardom seems to have raised some conflicts and controversy in regards to her personal life and career.
As Chappell has quickly gained popularity since the release of her first studio album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess in September of last year, she has also received a lot of unwanted attention from alleged “stalkers.”
This past July, an episode of TikToker Drew Afaulo’s podcast, The Comment Section, was released, interviewing Chappell Roan.
When Drew asked Chappell about how she is enjoying her life post-fame, Chappell replied, “People have started to be freaks, [they] follow me and know where my parents live, and where my sister works. All this weird s***.”
As people have become increasingly more aggressive towards Chappell in refusing to respect her boundaries, the artist spoke about the possibility of quitting music altogether because of her crazed fans.
On Afaulo’s podcast, Chappell stated, “this is the time when a few years ago I said that if [there were] stalker vibes or my family was in danger, I would quit. And we’re there. We’re there.”
Despite the sentiment made in the podcast, Chappell never really spoke out about her issues with harassment until early August.
When she finally addressed the situation, she was given quite a bit of backlash from fans after posting a TikTok video calling people out for stalking and harassing her and her family.
In her video, Chappell stated, “I don’t care that abuse and harassment– stalking whatever– is a normal thing to do to people who are famous.”
This was followed up by a statement posted on her Instagram that said, “I chose this career path because I love music and art… I do not accept harassment of any kind because I chose this path.”
On her Instagram, Chappell also said, “I am specifically talking about predatory behavior– disguised as “superfan” behavior– that has become normalized because of the way women who are well-known have been treated in the past.”
Although Chappell has claimed that this is only really an issue for famous women, it should be acknowledged that this kind of inappropriate behavior is something that all celebrities have to deal with, man or woman.
Finally, Chappell came onto her Instagram and said, “I’ve just said my piece, now you know how I feel. When a woman is upset and says something, the automatic response is to be like, ‘yo chill!’ But it’s like, it’s not chill; it’s not going to be chill.”
We can see how unfair it is that people should be upset at Chappell just because she isn’t willing to tolerate obsessive “superfan” behavior.
Yet, because of her issues with online and real life harassment, she has brought light to a bigger issue, which is that people think they are entitled to celebrities’ time just because they are famous.
People are starting to realize now that in reality, this treatment is extremely degrading and dehumanizing.
Despite the fact that Chappell Roan is threatening to quit music altogether, this is a time that we as people can now reflect on.
Moving forward, let us aspire to cultivate a society where we honor the boundaries of all people, especially those who are publicly exploited and already have to navigate the challenges of intense public scrutiny.