2024 Video Music Awards Best New Artist recipient Chappell Roan has transformed the music industry. Roan, born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, rose rapidly to fame with her album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” (2023). Roan embraced a unique drag aesthetic, and her lyrics and image have catapulted her to icon status in the LGBTQ+ community. But with this unprecedented rapid rise to fame, Roan has taken to social media to let us know how she feels.
Her response to fame — talking directly to fans on social media or writing speeches in her Notes app and taking screenshots — is personal; as she creates the image of a true celebrity, she reminds us that celebrities are just like us. But this response begs the question: How ‘real’ can a celebrity be before the public starts to resent her? Her album title seems to serve as a prophecy, as her recent public comments have led to a rapid fall from grace.
Besides headlining festivals with massive crowds, Roan has been in the news due to her opinions on her relationship with fans and her views about the upcoming election. In August, she repeatedly condemned “creepy” fans, saying in a TikTok, “it’s weird how people think that you know a person just ’cause you see them online or you listen to the art they make,” she said. “That’s f------ weird. I’m allowed to say no to creepy behavior, okay?” What makes Roan fascinating to observe is the fact that most celebrities may feel similarly but few have responded in such a tone. In September, Roan told the world in an interview that she would not be endorsing a presidential candidate. Her statement follows endorsements by Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish for the Harris/Walz campaign. “I have so many issues with our government in every way,” Roan told The Guardian. “There are so many things that I would want to change. So I don’t feel pressured to endorse someone. There’s problems on both sides. I encourage people to use your critical thinking skills, use your vote — vote small, vote for what’s going on in your city.”
Roan then took to social media to clarify with a series of videos. Most recently, Roan canceled New York City and D.C. shows, writing in her Notes app, “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. Things have gotten overwhelming over the past few weeks and I am really feeling it.”
But do public statements from celebrities really matter? I believe we are watching a social experiment unfold, one that is failing. Roan has pushed the boundaries of how much candid speech the public will tolerate from a celebrity before we criticize her as ungrateful or ignorant of what stardom involves. Now, even hardcore fans are beginning to resent her. Her social media performance is unapologetic and unpolished, especially when compared to her contemporary Sabrina Carpenter, a Disney star turned pop princess.
This controversy raises the question: What is a celebrity’s role during an election? Do celebrities need to have a filter or should they remain silent and refrain from endorsing political candidates? Celebrities hold immense sway over large populations, especially young people. After Taylor Swift’s endorsement, 400,000 people visited Vote.gov, which is the website where one could register to vote. Recently, Billie Eilish, Jennifer Lawrence, Olivia Rodrigo, Charli XCX and Bill Nye, among many others, have endorsed the Harris/Walz campaign. While celebrities are independent citizens with a voice, no mandate for celebrity endorsement exists. By making her unfiltered views public, Roan has raised the public ire. She crafted an image as a gay icon, yet she claims both candidates are bad without acknowledging that the policies of one portend a markedly worse future for a marginalized group to which she belongs. Her remarks indicate she will only settle for a nonexistent ‘perfect’ presidential candidate. Roan’s comments, which are difficult to retract, seem to represent who she really is — a wealthy white woman with immense privilege.
While it is easy to shame Roan’s public performance, we should acknowledge we likely don’t understand what she is going through. Becoming a celebrity has ripped away her privacy, and while her expression of opinions may be awkward and direct, she is calling attention to a very real experience that few understand. Roan is navigating the transition of becoming famous while maintaining her authentic self. Perhaps as her audience, our role is not to cancel her or call her out for fumbling a presidential endorsement, but to extend empathy as she navigates the incomprehensible life that is stardom.
I love Chappell Roan’s music. It is clever, unique and extremely catchy. But I’m not sure I love Kayleigh Rose Amstutz’s views and how she has voiced them, and I don’t think I’m alone. Her unfiltered comments and pattern of canceling shows has turned off a lot of fans. But perhaps we don’t need to approve of her self-expression. It will be up to her to navigate the public relations craziness in which she has landed herself. Perhaps we can focus on one valuable takeaway — her call to vote. At the end of the day, voting is truly the most effective way to use each of our voices.
