Chappell Roan continues to open up about the behavior that “fans” have exhibited towards her. The singer, who is arguably one of the most popular musicians around currently, isn’t afraid to tell people no, which includes people only looking for her autograph.
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Roan did an interview with The Face where she revealed that if it gets too dangerous for her, she might quit music all together. The “Casual” singer told a story about when she went to the airport and men were waiting for her to get out of the car so that she could sign their pictures. She admitted that they were seemingly not fans of her, and it makes the interaction even more frustrating.
“I get out of the car, it’s 5:30 in the morning, and there’s two guys waiting with a bunch of posters and s— for me to sign,” she said. “I know they’re not fans. I said no. I was like, ‘I don’t sign anything at the airport, I’m sorry.’”
Roan continued, “[One of them] follows me to the TSA line, starts yelling at me and everyone just turns and looks. He’s like, ‘You should really humble yourself. Do you know where you are right now? Don’t forget where you came from.’”
The people in question sound like autograph hounds, who stalk celebrities to get them to sign things so they can turn around and sell them online. They are people who are not actually fans of these celebrities but instead want them solely for money and blame the celebrity in question if they lose out on money over refused signatures.
“I told myself, if this ever gets dangerous, I might quit,” Roan said. “It’s dangerous now, and I’m still going. But that part is not what I signed up for.”
We’ve got to stop doing this to celebrities
There is this idea that a celebrity owes you something that has permeated pop culture. If you are a fan, you watch their things or listen to their music, but that doesn’t mean you have the right to then turn around and demand things of them—especially not in public when they are living their lives outside of their work.
Roan has already talked about people coming up to her and how she doesn’t enjoy fans interacting with her outside of her Roan persona. But it is a bigger issue that fans don’t want to unpack. Many celebrities have said their piece on it. They want to go outside without people taking creepy pictures, or they don’t want people interacting with them when they’re with family. It is all reasonable and things people should just naturally understand.
Now though, fan culture has made it a necessity to get a picture with a celebrity, and it has clearly taken its toll. Roan went on to talk about how she didn’t know fame would feel as bad as it currently does.
“The vibe of this — stalking, talking s— online, [people who] won’t leave you alone, yelling at you in public — is the vibe of an abusive ex-husband,” Roan said. “That’s what it feels like. I didn’t know it would feel this bad.”
It shouldn’t have to get this bad for people to realize that celebrities are just people. Yes, they make art you enjoy. That does not mean you have the right to them at any given time. A celebrity is just like you. Don’t you have days wen you want to be left alone? Why then would you scream at a celebrity for the same thing?
Enough is enough
I’m proud of Roan for speaking up about this. It is weird how people react to a celebrity outside of their work. There are places and moments where you can go and thank someone for a bit of media you enjoyed. It is why I love Q&As and why I ended up having the job I do.
But just because I enjoy something doesn’t mean if I see the creative out in my regular life that I should run up to them and talk to them. There are moments you just don’t need to bother someone, and that is lost on some people—partially because of people like autograph hounds but also due to fans who think they own these celebrities.
Roan is not standing for it, and I love her because of that.
