FEATURE:
Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl
PHOTO CREDIT: Lucienne
Why Chappell Roan’s Experiences with Her Fans Raises a Lot of Questions
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THIS is an experience…
a lot of artists will share. It is not necessarily the bigger you get the more destructive and intrusive fans can be. Sure, those who have millions of fans will find they get a lot more fans invading their privacy. Less able to switch off and have any sort of privacy. Because of social media and how we interact today, rising artists get this too. I think it may be worse for female artists. Not only are they subjected to more sexual harassment and that side of thing. I also think, when it comes to their private life, women are subjected more to fans who blur boundaries. Most fans are respectful and give artist space. However, there are cases of artists who are stepping back from music because of fans’ intrusiveness and obsessiveness. Chappell Roan is a terrific young artist who released one of the year-best albums last year with The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. She is someone I hope will be in the industry for years to come. However, as we can see from this NME article, she has found fans getting too close. Rather than there being this distance and professional courtesy, many have made her feel scared, violated and threatened. A sort of creepy and inappropriate sense of intrusion:
“Chappell Roan has revealed that she’s actively avoiding getting more popular than she already is after fans have begun displaying “stalker vibes” – see what the pop star had to say below.
Over the last year or so, Chappell Roan has organically become one of the fastest growing pop stars in the world, having performed opened Olivia Rodigo‘s ‘Guts’ tour before putting on headline-making performances at Coachella and Governors Ball this year.
However, the pop star has revealed that she’s uncomfortable with the level of fame she’s attained, and that fans have begun displaying worrying behaviour that makes her feel unsafe.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Comment Section podcast with Drew Afualo, Roan said: “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.”
Roan recalled: “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!”
She told Afualo: “I’m just kind of in this battle… I’ve pumped the brakes on, honestly, anything to make me more known. It’s kind of a forest fire right now. I’m not trying to go do a bunch of shit”.
This is not an isolated case. Artists such as Rihanna and Taylor Swift have had to deal with stalkers. In many cases, it is a single person who is culpable. For some artists, there are sections of their fanbase that cross the line. I know it doesn’t apply to most of Chappell Roan’s fanbase, though when you have quite a large section who are being disrespectful and encroaching into her private life, it does call into question the relationship between artists and fans. I suppose music has always had their problem. Some fans who feel it is their right to know everything about an artist. That obsession and need to dig and step where they have no business going. I am not saying fans need to have a wary distance. It is an artist’s right how much of themselves they give up online. Many want to remain quite private because it can be quite risky and exposing being too open. In any case, it is not up to fans to say what an artist should reveal. Whether they should be more person and interact more. Chappell Roan tours and gives fans opportunities to see her in the flesh. She also connects with them online and gives interviews. That is her professional obligation. It can be distressing for artists knowing that many of their fans follow them around or know their family. When they take things far too far and go from being fans to bordering on stalking. It has a massive impact on an artist’s mental health and security. I think it is the security element that is most worrying. Artists such as Ethen Cain have asked fans to be more respectful to one another at her gigs. It is bad enough when there is bad behaviour at gigs. Also having fans who are too intense and choose to go where they have no business.
PHOTO CREDIT: Pixabay/Pexels
It makes me think about fan culture and that relationship between artists and their supporters. I am not sure what the first steps are. There needs to be this understanding from fans that artists’ family and friends are off limits. That there is this boundary that cannot be crossed. I feel social media and the Internet age has not been a total blessing for artists. It does give them a greater reach and interaction with fans. There can be more of a bond. Less distant than how things used to be. The bad side is that many fans feel like they are quite alright to treat artists like friends. That there is no issue making them feel uneasy by getting involved with their family. It would be awful if we got to a place where artists gave the bare minimum and there was no real interaction and reveal. Just keeping things strictly to music. It is not okay that artists such as Chappell Roan have to think about their career and what they say because of their fans. That small percentage of her fanbase punishing the rest. It does seem to be female artists who are enduring more cases of obsessive and inappropriate fans. That feeling that they are their families are being stalked. In such a dangerous and increasingly dark and violent work, there is a wider worry of how far will fans go. It is not only about privacy and ensuring an artist’s family are protected. There is also that very real concern about personal safety. We need to start talking more about fans and their interaction with artists. How there cannot be more cases that are similar to Chappel Roan’s. How the industry can protect artists. We, as music lovers, respecting artists and not making them feel uncomfortable. It is distressing, angering and disturbing when some fans take things…
A step too far.