Chappell Roan’s meteoric rise to fame has been one for the books. Within just a year of her debut album, she has taken the world by storm. Her album has soared through the charts and is currently at no. 3 in the Billboard list (peak at no. 2) as well as getting her first UK no. 1. Even her follow-up single Good Luck, Babe! Blew up and led to an iconic VMAs performance where she portrayed Joan or should I say, Roan of Arc. Her amazing vocals paired with impressive theatrics and choreography, made a performance to remember.
Unfortunately, people didn’t. What people remembered more from that day is when she told off a photographer on her red carpet.
Chappell had been under fire for a while by the chronically online and opinionated internet users. She has constantly stated her boundaries regarding not to call by her real name, not to ask her for photos or to bother her in public.
Fans did not take that well and called her “ungrateful” because they “made her famous”
The incident had only worsened her public image with people going as far as saying Chappell doesn’t deserve her fame. Posts about her “complaining” garnered a lot of attention, with hundreds and thousands of likes showing people have similar sentiments.
But that didn’t deter Roan from standing her ground. In an interview with the Guardian, Chappell recalls the incident saying “I’m very turned off by the celebrity of it all. Some girls have been in this so long that they’re used to that, but I’m not that girl. I’m not gonna be a sweetie pie to a man who’s telling me to shut the f*ck up.”
This begs the question: When did this become so normalized? And if the public reactions, invasion of privacy and hounding for photos have been worse for women than for men?
The latter part might not be entirely true. Justin Bieber and members of One Direction have been exploited for years by the media. However, they somehow managed to come out of it safely.
But that isn’t the case for everyone. We can think of instances like Amy Winehouse or Britney Spears. Amy Winehouse had been hounded for years while she was struggling with alcoholism. Upsetting images of her in vulnerable situations were leaked on the internet. A massive smear campaign was carried out over Britney Spears and a paparazzi image of her cutting her hair off. This snowballed into a further terrible turn of events where she was declared mentally unstable and held captive in her own home under a conservatorship by her abusive father.
Not all people deal with fame the same way. While stars like Taylor Swift have found a way to navigate the paparazzi, smile for a few photos and satisfy the masses, not all people have the same mental capacity. Especially considering that Roan was a nobody only two months before all hell broke loose.
And now suddenly everyone knows her, and everyone essentially wants a “piece of her”
You can take it in a literal sense because there have been several unsettling events. Roan has been grabbed, pestered for photographs, and screamed at. With only months into the popstar life, she has had stalkers and people who somehow got hold of her family’s number and called them. This is not normal.
She is just supposed to take it because it “comes with the job”. It doesn’t. It is an incredibly messed up practice, one that would take a severe toll on an artist’s mental health.
The music industry has time and time again normalized this behavior so it doesn’t have to take accountability for ensuring a safe work environment for the artists. It doesn’t have to “come with it”. Artists are people like us, and while it is normal to fangirl and idolize them, you can do that from a distance too. This deification of artists has severe negative consequences.
There was a literal club of artists falling fatally into the deep pits of alcoholism and drug use to deal with the pressure of fame. Yet we never learnt.
People shouldn’t have to sell their souls and let this job consume their whole lives simply to do what they want to do. Roan has even stated that she would quit music if things get worse.
“I chose this career path because I love music and art and honoring my inner child, I do not accept harassment of any kind because I chose this path, nor do I deserve it.”
Her reactions are further explainable when you realize that she was born and raised in a small town in the Midwest. A small town where everyone knows each other and rarely anything happens out of the ordinary. Now her whole world has essentially shifted upside down.
Roan had struggled with mental health and fame from the beginning. So, she had created a stage persona, out of her real self, to maintain her mental health. She never wanted to mix the two. As time progressed, that had been tougher and tougher to maintain. While her stage persona seems very confident and running around in the wildest costumes, she has still broken down on stage explaining how hard it has been to deal with it regardless.
Her symptoms of depression have deteriorated since.
“I think it’s because my whole life has changed. Everything that I really love to do now comes with baggage. If I want to go thrifting, I have to book security and prepare myself that this is not going to be normal. Going to the park, pilates, yoga – how do I do this in a safe way where I’m not going to be stalked or harassed?”
While some have been understanding, a lot of the fans refuse to understand her reasoning. But she said that won’t make her stop speaking her truth. “They think I’m complaining about my success,” she said. “I’m complaining about being abused.”
With the way her fellow artists have supported her and reached out, shows that they have all been through the same thing. Some names are Boygenius, Mitski, Elton John, Lady Gaga, Eilish and many more. Some have been outspoken, and seeing the backlash it has caused, they were silenced or they adapted to it.
Mitski, in a very long email to Chappell, very sweetly welcomed her into the world of fame.
“I just wanted to humbly welcome you to the shittiest exclusive club in the world, where strangers think you belong to them and they find and harass your family.”
Roan has also found some solace in talking to Sabrina Carpenter who is going through the same thing essentially. However, Sabrina has been in the industry for over 10 years, starting as a Disney Star. So she has more or less accepted it. Yet even she feels like she is barely hanging on.
For a generation that cares so much about boundaries and mental health, the aggressive reaction to Roan’s very valid criticisms and concerns were uncalled for. She is allowed to lash out if she feels like her privacy is invaded. She is allowed to demand an environment that is conducive to her mental health because at the end of the day that is all that that is: a job. In a way, Chappell is exactly the kind of celebrity we need who is bold and brave with her rightful demands. Enough compromising and being polite when they shouldn’t have to be.
The music industry has a lot of deep-rooted issues that have festered long enough for it to become rotten. A lot of artists have fallen victim to it, and some have suffered an unfortunate fate. The idea that good art stems from traumatic experiences is an extremely misguided notion and lets the industry get away with its fucked up practices.
We should make sure that we can ensure a better environment for artists to thrive as fast as possible. There is a lot we can do on our part. Starting with letting artists live as their people and respect their boundaries.