Chappell Roan Details ‘Disturbing’ Stalker Incident, Increased ‘Harassment’ and ‘Catcalling’: ‘Now I Have to Have Security — So Lame’
In the last year, Chappell Roan has grown a fanbase that includes Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Adele, Lorde and another 40 million monthly Spotify listeners. As she adjusts to the spotlight, Roan has become increasingly vocal about setting boundaries with fans and spectators who feel an artificial sense of familiarity to her in a digital world.
“They need to see me as a random bitch on the street,” Roan told Rolling Stone in an interview published Tuesday morning. “You can’t yell at a random bitch who’s on the sidewalk that you don’t know. It’s considered catcalling or harassment.”
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It’s the same messaging that Roan expanded on in a series of TikTok posts made a few weeks ago, but in her conversation with the publication, the 26-year-old reveals she has been dealing with an active stalker. Rolling Stone reports this person had shown up to Roan’s parents’ home and even followed her to her hotel room in New York.
“So now I have to have security,” she said. “It’s so lame.”
Roan also details being kissed without her consent, having her father’s personal number leaked and being harassed by a man at an airport over an autograph. “I got home and dropped to my knees,” she said. “I have a hard time crying now because of my meds, but I sobbed and was screaming.”
As she stands firm in upholding boundaries with fans, proclaiming she’s generally been having a tough time with her sudden rise to fame, Roan attested that multiple pop stars reached out to her in support: Charli XCX, Hayley Williams, Troye Sivan, Katy Perry, Lorde, Mitski, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Lucy Dacus, Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers, among them.
Roan’s debut album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” has been in the top five of the Billboard 200 for weeks. It hit a peak of No. 2 on the list in August, and is continuing its run as one of the buzziest pop phenomena of the year.
Roan also told the publication she has convened with Sabrina Carpenter, who’s also had a huge year on the charts, as her latest album (“Short n’ Sweet”) debuted with the third-largest numbers of the year so far. “We’re both going through something so fucking hard … she just feels like everything is flying, and she’s just barely hanging on,” Roan said. “It was just good to know someone else feels that way.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Roan discussed her decision to turn down an invitation to the White House to perform at a Pride event. Roan, who identifies as lesbian, said she didn’t agree with being a “monkey for Pride” at the White House. “And thank God I didn’t go because they just made a huge statement about trans kids a couple weeks ago,” she said.
The future looks bright for Roan, who offered details of an upcoming album she’s working on with Grammy-winning producer Dan Nigro. In May, Nigro told Variety that the pair had only recently started working on Roan’s project: “I’m feeling good about it, but at the same time we are literally right at the beginning of the recording process, it’s only been a few days,” said Nigro. “We’re writing ballads, some sad songs where its just the piano and her voice.”
Roan provided an update, saying that they’ve put together “five, maybe six, songs they feel pretty good about,” including a country song, a “dancy song,” “one that’s really Eighties,” and an acoustic one with a ’70s vibe.
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