Chappell Roan is addressing the ongoing concerning behavior she’s experienced from people who claim to be her fans.
The “Good Luck, Babe!” singer, who climbed her way to fame within the past year, took to Instagram on Friday to share a lengthy note, pleading for people to “stop touching me,” “stop being weird to my family and friends” and “stop assuming things about me.”
“For the past 10 years I’ve been going non-stop to build my project and it’s come to the point that I need to draw lines and set boundaries. I want to be an artist for a very very long time,” Roan wrote. “I’ve been in too many nonconsensual physical and social interactions and I just need to lay it out and remind you, women don’t owe you shit. I chose this career path because because I love music and art and honoring my inner child, I do not accept harassment of any kind because I chose this path, nor do I deserve it.”
She continued, “When I’m on stage, when I’m performing, when I’m in drag, when I’m at a work event, when I’m doing press…I am at work. Any other circumstances, I am not in work mode. I am clocked out. I don’t agree with the notion that I owe a mutual exchange of energy, time, or attention to people I do not know, do not trust, or who creep me out—just because they’re expressing admiration. Women do not owe you a reason why they don’t want to be touched or talked to.”
The “Hot To Go!” artist clarified that this message has nothing to do with “people who respect my boundaries” and “the gratitude and love I feel for my community.”
“I am specifically talking about predatory behavior (disguised as ‘superfan’ behavior) that has become normalized because of the way women who are well-known have been treated in the past,” Roan said. “Please do not assume you know a lot about someone’s life, personality, and boundaries because you are familiar with them or their work online.”
“If you’re still asking, ‘Well, if you didn’t want this to happen, then why did you choose a career where you knew you wouldn’t be comfortable with the outcome of success?’—understand this: I embrace the success of the project, the love I feel, and the gratitude I have. What I do not accept are creepy people, being touched, and being followed,” she added.
The “Pink Pony Club” singer proceeded to explain that she just wants to be able to “love my life, be outside, giggle with my friends, go to the movie theater, feel safe, and do all the things every single person deserves to do,” without feeling threatened.
“Please stop touching me. Please stop being weird to my family and friends. Please top assuming things about me. There is always more to the story. I am scared and tired. And please—don’t call me Kayleigh. I feel more love than I ever have in my life. I feel the most unsafe I have ever felt in my life,” she concluded her post. “There is a part of myself that I save just for my project and all of you. There is a part of myself that is just for me, and I don’t want that taken away from me. Thank you for reading this. I appreciate your understanding and support.”
Roan has previously been outspoken about wanting to “pump the brakes” on fame after feeling unsafe due to some fans’ inappropriate conduct towards her in recent months.
“People have started to be freaks — like, [they] follow me and know where my parents live, and where my sister works. All this weird shit,” the singer told host Drew Afualo on the Comment Section podcast last month. “This is the time when a few years ago when I said that if [there were] stalker vibes or my family was in danger, I would quit. And we’re there. We’re there!”
