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A look into Chappell Roan’s encounter with paparazzi at the VMAs.
Chappel Roan’s recent comments at VMAs red carpet bring paparazzi harassment into light.
Chappell Roan arrived at the 2024 VMAs Wednesday night with four nominations: New Artist, Song of the Summer, Push Performance, and Trending Video, and won the award for New Artist later that night. Before the award show even began, the rising pop star made a stunning entrance on the VMA red carpet in a medieval styled outfit, complete with a velvet robe, massive sword and finger gauntlets.
Photographer’s and journalists were heard shouting things at Roan, telling her how she should pose and where to look, yet the musician kept a calm face. As one of Roan’s stylists was fixing her sheer dress, a photographer on the carpet was heard yelling at her to “Shut the ---- up!” to which Roan immediately snapped back.
Onlookers are unsure as to what caused the unidentified photographer’s comment and Roan’s response, but what is clear is that she is tired of receiving entitled and rude behavior from fans and paparazzi.
After the carpet, Roan spoke of her bold reaction to the photographer’s rude remark.
“For someone who gets a lot of anxiety around people yelling at you, the carpet is horrifying, and I yelled back,” Chappell told an interviewer for Entertainment Tonight. “I yelled back! You don’t get to yell at me like that.”
Weeks before the VMAs, Roan took to Instagram to post a seven slide statement about her need to draw lines and not accept harassment simply because she chose to be a singer and songwriter. The artist said that she isn’t looking for a response, but that she receives the respect she is asking for.
“Please stop touching me. Please stop being weird to my family and friends,” Roan wrote in an Instagram post. “I feel more love than I ever have in my life. I feel the most unsafe I have ever felt in my life.”
Roan states that it has nothing to do with the love she feels for her community and fans, but how uncomfortable it feels to have “superfan” behavior be normalized due to her status as a female celebrity. She acknowledges that she is gaining fame quickly, but that she doesn’t owe her fans or stalkers anything simply because she is now a well known musician.
Despite the red carpet incident, the rest of the night went amazingly for the singer, with a hit performance of “Good Luck, Babe!” in full knight armor and winning the award for New Artist later on.
The star has made a large impact as a Generation Z artist bringing attention to a continuous issue that many other celebrities are becoming restless with. Why is paparazzi normalized? Why are fans allowed to ignore celebrities' boundaries?
Multiple artists, from Elton John to Noah Kahan, have spoken up on social media supporting Roan’s fiery determination to push back against harassers. It is clear that there needs to be a change in the music industry in order to allow artists to continue to do what they love.
The VMA paparazzi incident, as well as Roan’s past encounters with crazed fans, has taught audiences the importance of respecting celebrities. While much of an artist's life is public, they still have personal aspects to their lives and what makes them the musician that everyone loves.
Roan has shown what it means to stand her ground as a rising celebrity. She is able to enjoy performing her music while making sure her peace and privacy are protected. Roan is just one of many artists who reminds audiences that celebrities are human beings and deserve respect and kindness.
