Chappell Roan: Good Luck, Babe!, the singer denounces the harassment of which she is the victim

American singer Chappell Roan has spoken out about the “strange behaviour” she has experienced in person and online as her star status continues to grow.

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

Chappell’s debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, reached No. 1 on the Official Chart earlier in August.

Her two posts on the app have since been viewed more than 12 million times in total.

“I don’t care if abuse and harassment is a normal thing for famous or somewhat famous people to go through,” she says in one of the videos.

“I don’t care if it’s normal. I don’t care if this type of insane behavior is related to work, to my chosen career field. That doesn’t make it acceptable.”

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

Established stars including Adele and Lady Gaga have fuelled her popularity, with the former describing her as “phenomenal” and “spectacular”.

“It’s weird how people assume you know someone just because you see them online and listen to the art they create,” she continued in her post.

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

“[Being a singer] That doesn’t mean I want it. That doesn’t mean I love it.

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

In her 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 warning fans against overstepping boundaries, or setting limits 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 has nothing to do with sex,” describing being filmed against her will in a bar.

Justin Bieber previously said he was “done taking pictures” with his fans in an Instagram post.

The Canadian star said he wanted to “keep his sanity” as selfie requests made him feel like a “zoo animal”.

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

Talking on the podcast 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 was crying and having a panic attack in an airport.

At the time, Emilia said she preferred to sign something instead: “When you do that, you have to have an interaction with that person, as opposed to someone just saying, ‘Take us a selfie, bye.'”

“Then you chat and you have a real human-to-human conversation.”

What we see 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 it as a “one-sided relationship”.

Dr Lamarche tells Newsbeat that we often look 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 expectations,” she says.

When you are lucky enough to meet someone in real life, “you imagine that when you meet them, they will be your best friend, they will love you as much as you love them.”

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

“For them, it can be really unsettling because they feel like you’re too familiar with them.”

Parasocial relationships are “not new,” says Dr. Lamarche, but social media gives us a “constant sense of interaction.”

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

“A lot of fans might feel hurt or disappointed by what Chappell Roan said,” she said.

“It’s natural because it’s someone we admire who tells us we’re doing something wrong and makes us feel rejected and hurt.

“But it’s also important to keep in mind the healthy boundaries that these people are trying to set for themselves.”

Newsbeat asked Chappell Roan’s fans about her TikTok posts, including Leah, 20, from Birmingham.

“I sincerely congratulate her on that,” she said.

“You have no idea what they go through or what it takes to be famous and because the stans (super fans) put them on a pedestal, 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 can understand why some fans might think she’s maybe a little too bossy, but it’s her life and she has every right to feel passionate about protecting her safety and boundaries.”

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