If Chappell Roan is leading the femininomenon, its mission statement is changing the game for female celebrities. Because as her stardom grows, so too does her clear stance on fame, and the 26-year-old singer has made it very clear that she won't tolerate anything less than respect, safety and courtesy from fans and the industry alike.
It doesn't take a VMA win to signify Chappell as one of the biggest artists in the world right now. While her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, was hitting number one in both the UK and Billboard's Vinyl Albums chart, people were streaming 'Good Luck, Babe!' over 630 million times on Spotify, and the choreography for 'Hot To Go!' was infecting festivals far and wide this summer.
Under normal circumstances, this magnitude of newfound success comes with inescapable downsides: fans desperately trying to get selfies with you when you're in public. Photographers screaming your name, urgently asking you to throw it over the shoulder. Journalists shoving microphones in your face, hoping for some big exclusive on what you had for breakfast.
Only, for Chappell - real name Kayleigh Rose Amstutz - this 'inevitability' isn't something she's going to take lightly; instead using her new platform to shine a light on the treatment female celebrities suffer as a prescribed side effect of global recognition.
While a clip of her shouting at photographers during last night's Video Music Awards [11th September] is going viral (more on that later), she first called out the "creepy" behaviour she and her family had faced back in August.
Speaking directly to camera, she told followers on TikTok: "I don't care that abuse and harassment is a normal thing to do to people who are famous or a little famous. I don’t care that this crazy type of behaviour comes along with the job, the career field I’ve chosen. That does not make it OK, that doesn’t make it normal. That doesn’t mean that I want it, that doesn’t mean that I like it."
In a follow up statement on Instagram, the singer addressed how deeply rooted in misogyny the situation was, sharing how "every woman is feeling or has felt similar to what I’m experiencing" and adding that "predatory behaviour (disguised as 'superfan' behaviour) has become normalised because of the way women who are well-known have been treated in the past."
Chappell only proved her point further with her recent Rolling Stone cover story, where she shared a long list of other female singers who had reached out to offer support: Charli XCX, Lorde, Billie Eilish, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Sabrina Carpenter, Phoebe Bridgers and boygenius, plus the members of MUNA and Hayley Williams.
And as Mitsi summed it up to her in a lengthy email: "I just wanted to humbly welcome you to the shittiest exclusive club in the world, the club where strangers think you belong to them and they find and harass your family members."
In the same interview, Chappell shared how she won't respond to fans calling her by her real name, and turns down requests for most photos. She's had to hire security, and has genuine safety concerns; to the extent that she considered cutting off her hair, or dying it from its distinctive red.
Of course, while she isn't the only female celebrity to call out the treatment of women in the public eye (everyone from Halsey to Doja Cat have critiqued the industry and fans for their approach), last night's MTV Video Music Awards only proved the singer's commitment to the cause.
In a red carpet moment that has since gone viral, Chappell responded to a photographer who is heard saying "Shut the f*** up", by pointing her finger and shouting back: "YOU shut the f*** up. Don’t! Not me, b***h."
While the response to Chappell's stance has been nuanced, many took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to share their support for her red carpet moment. "Finally a celebrity standing up for herself," one person wrote, while another summarised, "Chappell Roan is entering the industry with a sense of self worth that everybody applauds in other women as long as they endure mistreatment for a decade before developing it."
Someone else said, "Isn’t it wild how we celebrate women’s self-worth only after they’ve had to toughen up? Imagine if their worth was acknowledged right from the start!"
Like we said, the singer isn't the only female celebrity to ever stand up against misogyny, but given her undeniable stardom right now, using her platform to call out inappropriate behaviour at every available opportunity is admirable.
And, given the complex layers of the situation (namely the way in which women are often favoured for being quiet and receptive,) it's a complicated position to be in. But Chappell's stance is clear: she's not going to take any shit.
