Chappell Roan: Good luck, darling! Singer complains of ‘harassment’

American singer Chappell Roan has denounced the “creepy behavior” she has experienced in person and online as her star status continues to rise.

In two TikToks, she says she feels “harassed” and mentions that her family is being “stalked,” bullied online, and yelled at from car windows.

Chappell’s debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, reached number one on the official chart in early August.

Since then, her two posts on the app have been viewed more than 12 million times in total.

“I don’t care if abuse and harassment are normal things against famous or not-so-famous people,” she says in one of the videos.

“I don’t care that it’s normal. I don’t care that this kind of crazy behavior comes along with the job, the career field I’ve chosen. That doesn’t make it OK.”

Chappell is one of the most successful pop stars of the year, with Good Luck, Babe! becoming a hit in the United States and around the world.

Acclaimed stars including Adele and Lady Gaga have boosted its popularity, with the former describing it as “phenomenal” and “spectacular”.

“It’s weird how people think you know someone just because you see them online and hear the art they make,” she continues in her post.

“I have the right to say no to creepy behavior.

“[Being a singer] doesn’t mean I want it. It doesn’t mean I like it.

“I am not [care] if you think it’s selfish of me to say no to a picture or your time or a hug. That’s not normal, that’s weird.”

In the caption, she said her post was not about a specific person or experience.

“This is just my side of the story and my feelings.”

Chappell isn’t the only famous name to warn fans about pushing boundaries or setting boundaries for their fans based on difficult experiences.

In 2022, actress and singer Keke Palmer posted on social media that “no means no, even when it’s not about sex,” describing being filmed against her will at a bar.

Justin Bieber had previously said in an Instagram post that he was “sick of taking pictures” with fans.

The Canadian star said he wanted to “stay sane”, with demands for selfies making him feel like a “zoo animal”.

Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke has also decided to say no to photo requests.

Speaking on the podcast Good table manners In 2019, she described two encounters with fans: one woke her up on a plane to ask for a selfie, and another asked for a photo while she cried and had a panic attack in an airport.

At the time, Emilia said she preferred signing something: “When you do that, you have to have an interaction with that person, rather than someone just saying, ‘Give us a selfie, bye.'”

“Then you talk and actually have a sincere conversation between humans.”

What we’re seeing with Chappell and his fans is known as a parasocial relationship.

Dr Veronica Lamarche, a social psychologist and relationship researcher at the University of Essex, describes this as a “one-sided relationship”.

Dr Lamarche told Newsbeat that we often turn to celebrities and “feel like they can help us meet our emotional needs” – perhaps even more than our real friends.

“It can become dangerous when we don’t set healthy boundaries in terms of those expectations,” she says.

When the opportunity to cross paths in real life arises, “you imagine that when you meet them, they will be your best friend and will like you as much as you like them.

“But the reality is that this celebrity you’re projecting yourself onto has no idea who you are.

“So for them, it can be really destabilizing because they feel like you’re being too intimate with them.”

Parasocial relationships are “nothing new,” says Dr. Lamarche, but social media means we have a “constant sense of interaction.”

“If your favorite celebrity posts on Instagram and you comment on those photos, it feels like you’re having a two-way conversation, when in the end it’s still one-way.

“A lot of fans may be feeling hurt or disappointed by what Chappell Roan said,” she says.

“It’s natural because it’s someone we admire telling us we’re doing something wrong and it feels like rejection and pain.

“But it’s also important to be aware of the healthy boundaries these people are trying to set for themselves.”

Newsbeat has been asking Chappell Roan’s fans about his TikTok posts, including 20-year-old Leah from Birmingham.

“I sincerely commend her for that,” she says.

“You have no idea what they’re going through or what it takes to become famous, and because fans put them on pedestals, we expect them to be perfect all the time.”

Olivia, who is 25 and lives in London, told Newsbeat: “Chappell went from zero to one hundred incredibly quickly. It must be overwhelming.

“I understand why some fans might feel she’s being a little overly aggressive, but it’s her life and she has the right to feel passionate about protecting her safety and boundaries.”

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