Surprise! People Are Still Being Weird About Chappell Roan
People, people, people. This is not what Chappell Roan meant when she encouraged us to be freaks in the club.
For the past two weeks, the Midwest Princess has been on fans’ and detractors’ minds — and lips — alike after the release of her September Rolling Stone cover story. Now, it’s a Saturday Night Live sketch that’s working stans up online — and proving Roan’s point about privacy and critical thinking skills in the process.
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Following Roan’s cover story, aggregation accounts on X (formerly Twitter) like PopCrave, PopBase, and PopFlop posted dozens of tweets summarizing the story — specifically, pointing out Roan’s comments on the upcoming U.S. presidential election and her desire for fans to respect her boundaries. One comment in particular went viral: “I’m pretty, ‘Fuck the government, and fuck everything that’s going on right now,’ ” Roan said following Joe Biden’s poor performance at his only debate with Donald Trump. “I don’t have a side because I hate both sides, and I’m so embarrassed about everything going on right now.”
While Roan stated plenty of additional thoughts in the interview — specifically that she encouraged all of her supporters to vote and felt “lucky” to be alive during the “incredibly historical time period when a woman of color is a presidential nominee” — social media users latched on to her use of the phrase “both sides,” accusing Roan of supporting Donald Trump. Roan posted two follow-up TikToks, saying that people fell for clickbait and that she would be voting for Kamala but not endorsing her. It didn’t douse the fervor of online discourse, and five days later, Roan announced she would be canceling her two upcoming shows at the All Things Go festivals in New York City and D.C. because things had “gotten overwhelming. I feel pressures to prioritize a lot of things right now and I need a few days to prioritize my health,” she wrote on Instagram. “I want to be present when I perform and give the best shows possible. Thank you for understanding.”
So what does this have to do with Saturday Night Live? Well, during the show’s Season 50 premiere, star Bowen Yang appeared on the Weekend Update Desk as Moo Deng, the viral baby pygmy hippo from Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo. After explaining how overwhelming fame had gotten to host Colin Jost, Yang turned his attention to Roan and her recent spotlight from the perspective of “your favorite hippo’s favorite hippo.”
“Leave [Chappell Roan] alone. Let her take as much time as she needs for her mental health,” Yang said, clad in a slippery hippo suit. “We both deserve patience and grace and so stop harassing her and stop throwing shellfish at her.”
At face value, it’s a pretty straightforward sketch comparing Roan’s situation to an animal trapped in a zoo for entertainment. But online, Yang and SNL were almost immediately accused by Roan fans of mocking her feelings and public statements — so much so that Yang felt the need to make an additional statement. “Oh geeez,” Yang wrote on his Instagram stories Monday. “If my personal stance and the piece aren’t absolutely clear in terms of supporting then there it is I guess. Everything she has ever asked for has been reasonable and even then we can connect it to another story about boundaries or whatever.”
While this is clearly another prime example of why the internet desperately needs to value media literacy again, it’s also glaring proof that Roan’s feelings of being under a microscope aren’t in her head. SNL ran a four-minute sketch that mentioned her name twice and it’s already spawned thousands of tweets and dozens of articles in less than 48 hours. And these are from people who say they’re fans of Roan. Now, imagine what people who dislike the “Hot To Go” singer might say the next time she so much as opens her mouth. “I’m still trying to catch up,” Roan said in July. “It’s been a really hard adjustment.”
The singer has also been open about her struggles with managing her bipolar II disorder, dealing with stalkers, being grabbed by fans, and handling the stress that comes with a lightning-fast rise in popularity all at the same time. It’s no wonder she needed a break. Fans of Roan are quick to protect the pop star online. But in their effort to keep bad-faith actors from becoming the loudest voices in the room, the fans are quickly adopting the same energy that Roan herself is desperate to end. Maybe the best way to make sure your favorite artist’s favorite artist is able to stay in her dream career starts with knowing when to not take everything so seriously.
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