Last week was full of nonsense from Chappell Roan, a 26-year-old queer woman and pop star of the moment. Roan has legitimately had a huge, breakout year professionally, and there were already growing pains as she dealt with her newfound fame and celebrity. She has not been handling it well, which is why it was a really bad idea for Roan to even wade into politics in any way, much less project herself as some kind of political savant. She gave one interview, then made two big TikToks which went down poorly, because she talked out of both sides of her mouth, spread disinformation about the Democratic Party’s record on LGBTQ rights, literally made a “both sides” argument, mispronounced Kamala Harris’s name, and generally parroted a half-dozen right-wing talking points and sounded like an anti-vaxxer “do your research” person.
People jumped down her throat all of last week, and in my opinion, it was well-deserved. I have sympathy for her because she is bipolar and she was already really struggling with fame, but again, she’s 26 years old. She’s not a child, she’s been an adult woman for eight years and this is her third presidential election as a voter. She needs to be held accountable for the words she chooses to speak, especially when she’s using the LGBTQ community for profit, then refusing to stand up for that same community politically. Well, long story short, Roan canceled her weekend show at the last minute.
Two days after she posted a video showing great frustration with the public reaction to her disinclination to endorse a presidential candidate, Chappell Roan has canceled her appearance at the All Things Go festival this weekend, in New York on Saturday and Washington, DC on Sunday.
“I apologize to people who have been waiting to see me in NYC & DC this weekend at All Things Go, but I am unable to perform,” she wrote in a social media post. “Things have gotten overwhelming over the past few weeks and I am really feeling it.”
“I feel pressures to prioritize a lot of things right now and I need a few days to prioritize my health. I want to be present when I perform and give the best shows possible. Thank you for understanding. Be back soon xox.”
Her fans are already portraying this as “Roan was bullied!” Again, accountability is not bullying. If you meant what you said in multiple interviews and TikToks, say it with your whole chest and double-down on stage during your concert. Get up there and argue that your fans should not vote to protect their marginalized community because “both sides are bad.” Go ahead and spread disinformation on stage too if you really feel that way. Instead, Roan chose to back out and not make another TikTok about it. I would guess that some publicist finally got a hold of her.
leave moo deng alone! #SNLPremiere pic.twitter.com/ABtoN9pQkr
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) September 29, 2024
Does Chappell Roan’s comments really surprise you? pic.twitter.com/4hq2PO5HiS
— 2RawTooReal (@2RawTooReal) September 27, 2024
White leftists should be listening right now and not talking.
Then again, they are the same people who weren't listening a few weeks ago when they were being called out on anti-Black rhetoric within the pro-Palestine movement. (Search for Maya Ayooni on TikTok) pic.twitter.com/f6GLU30pmt
— Kim Wexler's Ponytail 🐝💛🎗 (@MadisonKittay) September 27, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- ELMONT, NEW YORK, USA – SEPTEMBER 11: Chappell Roan wearing Y/Project arrives at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards held at UBS Arena on September 11, 2024 in Elmont, New York, United States.,Image: 907000221, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Chappell Roan, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
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- Chappell Roan performs at Manchester Academy, Manchester, England, 13th September 2024.,Image: 907421006, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Editorial Use Only, Model Release: no, Credit line: Mike Gray / Avalon
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- Chappell Roan performs at Manchester Academy, Manchester, England, 13th September 2024.,Image: 907421179, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Editorial Use Only, Model Release: no, Credit line: Mike Gray / Avalon
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- Chappell Roan performs during The Midwest Princess Tour at Revolution Live. Featuring: Chappell Roan Where: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States When: 26 Oct 2023 Credit: Robert Bell/INSTARimages
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- 2024 MTV Video Music Awards Red Carpet Featuring: Chappell Roan Where: New York, New York, United States When: 11 Sep 2024 Credit: Janet Mayer/INSTARimages.com
She does need someone to help her through this before she tanks her fame and career. She did deserve the backlash she received so what she really needs to do is understand why she received the backlash and now move forward and keep her mouth shut about things that will cause her problems. If this is too much for her than maybe she needs to choose something else to do that doesn’t put her under the spotlight.
This. She wasn’t called out for simply not endorsing, it was specifically because her both-sides stuff deserved to be called out. I hope someone on her team is educating her on what the criticism is about and not coddling any feelings of victimization.
Yeah, at this point, ideally she could understand why she got the backlash. The republican party is not going to support the trans community.They’re just not. So if that’s an issue she truly cares about then I hope someone around her can educate her.
it’s. not as if she doesn’t know what the GOP stands for or the difference between GOP and dems on LGTBQ+ issues. Her uncle is a Republican Rep in MO (one who co-sponsored anti-choice bills).
Despite what she said, I would not be surprised if she actually votes straight Republican Party ticket while complaining that not enough is being done to support her specific community. Especially is she’s pulling the there’s no difference between the parties bullshit
Apart from everything, she shouldn’t have been doing those tiktok videos while she had a show in a few days. If I have an important meeting in a couple of days, I wouldn’t spend my time fighting people online. I would focus on my job. That is why most famous people give their SM management to their team and check it out once in a while. She is too famous now to manage her own accounts.
It seems to me, “both-sides” phrasing is very triggering for people now after Trump years. I remember, Russian bots were spreading this phrase too during Clinton vs Trump election. So, lots of democrats didn’t vote. That is why words we choose matter. I hope Chappell gets the support she needs and a good team behind her. Because, this isn’t a winning strategy at her level.
Also, I am glad lots of LGBTQ people came out and dismissed “both-sides” argument. There is no both-sides if one party doesn’t want you to exist.
She backed out last minute for shows in Europe as well to perform at the VMAs
I saw that. For the sake of her career and peace of mind she and her team need to be wiser about her priorities.
I was at a local CVS and the young clerk behind the counter mentioned the POTUS race to a customer in front of me:
Basically saying, “i don’t know what things are going to be like in a year, but we’re screwed no matter who gets elected. Trump’s a crazy old man and then there’s the girl who doesn’t know anything”
The ignorance and misogyny of that BothSidesSuck casual comment this white dude felt confident spewing in public, to strangers, at his job was kind of gross.
That their are people who think that way is bad enough: she’s a smart educated woman who was a prosecutor, AG, Senator and had been VPOTUS for nearly 4 years. She’s not a know-nothing and she’s no “girl”
I usually won’t wade into political comments not aimed at me, but after I finished checking out I told him “Any woman over 50 isn’t a ‘girl’. That’s disrespectful to say”. I’m sure he thought I was just some cranky old bitch (or girl) but who cares, educate yourself sir.
I’m glad you said something, it isn’t easy standing up for what is right. And the ignorance of that man is nauseating especially considering DT is against anything and everything working class related. His hourly wage job will be affected as he parrots the talking points of Project 2025 and eliminating overtime and unions.
Prior to the orange menace there was perhaps an argument that neither party is great for middle class. But the false equivalency since 2016 is only cover for people who cannot admit how atrocious the GOO have become, especially their deranged leader. Only one is talking about the purge as a real thing, only one goes on about how great Putin is, only one has appointed judges removing rights from women.
The democrats have their own issues, but none are the same level as the worldwide menace currently running for the GOP.
Hopefully she takes this as a learning experience and works with a publicist on things like this going forward or just keeping her mouth shut. If she wants to speak out about these things she should take notes from Taylor Swift who clearly consults her PR team before she says anything like this. Roan is not as smart as she thinks she is.
There are many of her generation in the LGTB+ community who are/were calling her out on this, telling her to educate herself on why this ‘both sides’ argument is damaging.
I don’t know much about her – her music is interesting but if she’s going to model herself on someone like Kate Bush then she needs to learn how to present herself better.
“Roan is not as smart as she thinks she is.” – exactly this. I think she and a lot of us who rate her music, mistook her talent for some generalised in depth all round genius. It’s obvious now that she is not that. She also may not be as morally grounded as some of us had assumed.
“I cannot endorse a party that doesn’t have trans rights on its platform or an arms embargo as a goal. I’m voting for harm reduction and I’m tired.” – this would have been a perfectly lucid response with actionable feedback for the DNC (media isn’t covering the general disappointment in the Trans community to be left out of the DNC. We get why and it’s fine but look it hurts). We love Chappell but if trans rights really are her biggest priority at some point she is going to have to start speaking clearly for us.
I knew next to nothing about her prior to last week, and now her misguided political views are all I know. Does she have enough talent and big enough of a fan base to recover? I genuinely don’t know.
It really sucked for her fans that she canceled her All Things Go appearances. Everyone needs to prioritize their mental health, but she ought to do that by getting some professional advice on handling her public statements.
Kaiser – Thank you for including that video from 2RawToo Real!! Amazing mouth!! Also Kim Wexler’s Ponytail. Since I’m old and don’t have social media accounts, I don’t usually see this stuff. I have heard Shaypelle Rowun on Sirius when in the car. Girl’s disappointing. Don’t know how she got out of high school English without passing the writing lessons on ‘compare and contrast.’ Both sides of her “flat a$$” are looking saggy after listening to 2RawToo Real.
I really like her as an artist. She’s 26 but that can be quite young, mentally, for some.
That’s the only nice thing I have to say here.
Hypocrisy like hers makes me sick. Pick a lane and buckle up, Beotch! Playing in the big leagues is not for everyone. I see her getting torn to shreds on Twitter and hope she learns from this experience; just don’t read too many mean tweets…
She got famous in high school, right? I don’t think she matured or developed much since then. Still just a dumb kid.
Honestly don’t know much about her except her music, and this latest flip-floppery situation.
She’s definitely not very cerebral. My guess is a lot of conditioning from her MagaT family is fighting her heart’s desires. That could take many more years to work through…
Modern stardom is a very weird thing, and there’s no shame in not being cut out for that. I’m neither a fan nor a hater. Sudden fame plus mental illness plus a tendency to engage is a bad combination.
Before he went jackass, Dave Chappelle once said that you can’t get unfamous, you can only get infamous. I don’t think that’s always true, but at a certain level of fame I agree. Chappell Roan has hit that level of fame, or she’s very near it. You can be punch-clock recognizable (like Dolly Parton), but it takes work to craft and enforce those boundaries. I’m worried she’s not clear on what her boundaries are, and that makes me think she’ll become infamous.
I like some of her music, but she’s so messy already. Aside from the political harm (a HUGE aside), at this early stage, she’s setting herself up for pain the rest of her career. If the press and the internets know that you are controversial and half-baked, you’ll be the first stop when they need a headline. They don’t give a sh** about your mental health, either. They can keep coming longer than you can tolerate it.
So congratulations on putting your music in the back-back-back seat, girl. It’s so early in your career you may not overcome this before you burn out. Already you can’t show up for work.
There are so many ways to keep the pressure on democrats to support civil rights. This wasn’t it.
I think there are a thousand things to critique her on (not least of all her own continued association with her Republican relatives when there is no existential need for her to rely on any of them any more), but I think it’s been fairly clear from the beginning that she wanted to draw a distinction between ‘endorsing’ (i.e. declaring one’s approval and support of a party) and ‘voting’ (i.e. indicating a choice for a particular party over the others, even if only to minimise harm, not out of an actual belief that all or most of their policies are defensible) given that ‘both’ Republicans and Democrats are atrocious on a number of issues she has been outspoken about over the past year (not least of all the US-backed occupation of and genocide in Palestine). She seems to be a leftist, and given that there aren’t actually any leftist parties for her to vote for, only a liberal one, it makes sense that she wouldn’t endorse, but only vote to minimise harm (and, given the issues she’s been outspoken about, do so for Harris and Walz).