The Pink Pony Club singer opened up about being labeled a “diva” in Hollywood for using her platform to speak her mind.
Chappell Roan is getting candid about fame.
In a new interview with BBC Radio 1, Roan, who rose to the top pf the charts in 2024 with the release of her album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, spoke about being labeled a “diva” after speaking out about the pitfalls of fame.
“I was looking around, and I was like, ‘This is what people are OK with all the time? And I’m supposed to act normal? This is not normal. This is crazy,'” Roan recalled of the now-viral moment at the MTV VMAs when she scolded a photographer who had been taunting stars on the red carpet.
“I’ve been responding that way to disrespect my whole life — but now there are cameras on me, and I also happen to be a pop star, and those things don’t match,” she continued. “It’s like oil and water.”
Referencing how so many people were quick to deem her spoiled or whining, Roan quipped, “I think, actually, I’d be more successful if I was OK wearing a muzzle.”
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“If I were to override more of my basic instincts, where my heart is going, ‘Stop, stop, stop, you’re not OK,’ I would be bigger,” she surmised. “I would be way bigger…. And I would still be on tour right now.”
Roan, who is up for six Grammys next month, refused to extend her 2024 tour and instead opted to protect her physical and mental health.
As for what helped her make that decision, she told the BBC that it was an inspiring message related to her by her late grandfather.
“There’s something he said that I think about in every move I make with my career. There are always options,” Roan shared.
“So when someone says, ‘Do this concert because you’ll never get offered that much money ever again,’ it’s like, who cares?” she added. “If I don’t feel like doing this right now, there are always options. There is not a scarcity of opportunity. I think about that all the time.”
