Chappell Roan stands firm on his boundaries with fans

Chappell Roan’s rise to fame has been meteoric. With each passing month, the crowds have been growing exponentially faster and faster, and she has made it clear time and again that the impact of that breakneck speed to fame has come with its own set of challenges.

Earlier this week, she decided to express her boundaries with her fans on TikTok, saying she no longer tolerates harassment. In the video, she asks her fans a series of questions: “If you saw a random woman on the street, would you yell at her from the car window? Would you harass her in public? Would you walk up to a random woman and say, ‘Can I take a picture with you?’ And she’d be like, ‘No, what the f**k?’ And then you get mad at this random woman?” she asked, adding, “Would you stalk her family? Would you follow her around? Would you try to pick apart her life and bully her online? This is a woman you don’t know, and she doesn’t know you at all.”

Although she eventually disabled comments on TikTok, her (very accurate) assertions about fame and the importance of respecting the humanity of artists, including celebrities, sparked waves of discourse online.

On Friday, Chappell Roan reaffirmed her boundaries, doubling down on sentiments she shared just days earlier. In a lengthy message shared on Instagram, she stood firm on her boundaries, reiterating, “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’m at work. In any other circumstance, I’m not in work mode. I’m in clock mode. I don’t agree with the idea that I owe a mutual exchange of energy, time or attention to people I don’t know, don’t trust or who scare me — just because they express admiration. Women don’t owe you a reason not to want to be touched or not to want to be talked to,” she wrote. “It has nothing to do with the gratitude and love I feel for my community, for the people who respect my boundaries, and for the love I feel from every single person who lifts me up and has stuck by my side to help the project get to where it is now.”

Roan once again calls out harassing fan behavior: “I'm specifically talking about predatory behavior (disguised as 'superfan' behavior) that has become normalized because of how famous women have been treated in the past. Don't assume you know a lot about someone's life, personality, and boundaries because you know them well or are familiar with their work online.”

In his caption, Roan concluded: “Just so you know, every woman feels or has felt the same way I do. This is not a new situation. If you see me as a bitch or ungrateful or if my whole statement upsets you, baby, that's you… you need to look inside and ask yourself, 'wait, why am I so upset about this? Why is a girl expressing her fears and limitations in such an infuriating way?'”