Imagine walking home from school when a stranger comes up to you and asks to take a picture with you. It’s odd to say the least. You’re well educated in the rules of Stranger Danger and politely decline before continuing on with your day.
That same night your TikTok, Instagram, and other social media accounts are flooded with weird, violent, and perverted comments from the same person, also the same person who stopped you after school. Utterly freaked out, you block them and think that’s the end of it.
That is until this person starts showing up everywhere. You had to make a new route home from school, the person showed up at your job, they made new social media accounts to follow you, and started following your family as well.
It’s not uncommon for celebrities to have crazed fans who take things just a bit too far. From an unhealthy obsession to straight-up stalking, the appalling treatment of celebrities is way too normalized. Isn’t it time to start giving celebrities the respect we give normal people?
How can someone set boundaries when their life is on full public display?
It almost feels impossible, but rising star Chappell Roan (Kayleigh Rose Amstutz) has spoken out and demanded her boundaries be respected. She’s asking for what any normal person wants, to not be harassed and stalked.
Take the opening scenario and apply it to any famous person. What happens when they bring attention to this behavior? The public turns against them.
Roan became well known for her hit songs “Good Luck Babe” and “HOT TO GO!” after making headlines at her performance at Coachella.
From her eccentric costumes, openness about politics, and queer songs, she’s truly unique among modern song artists. She’s a female drag queen who had been making music for a year before gaining popularity.
According to ShoutOut! her rise to fame was sudden and rapid with stadiums at her performance being filled with up to 80,000 people. Since her rise to fame, she’s been incredibly open about the struggles and social implications that come with stardom.
Roan admits fans have been “berating her for not signing an autograph or taking photos”, people have been “showing up at her hotel room and her parent’s house,” and once someone “physically grabbing and kissing her,” as reported by Psychology Today.
In August, she posted a TikTok to address the creepy behavior that’s come with her popularity. She made it clear that when she is not performing she is off the clock –stalking her and her family and initiating unwanted advances are not okay.
In the video, she expressed that even if people connect to her music or her drag persona, they don’t really know her. At the end of the day, they’re strangers.
“I don’t care that this crazy type of behavior comes along with the job,” Roan expressed in her TikTok video, “That does not make it okay.”
ShoutOut! explains since making these demands people have called her “a ‘diva’, ‘relevant’, ‘ungrateful’, and went as far as to say she didn’t deserve the fame.”
She most recently canceled her performance at All Things Go, a major music festival, to prioritize her health.
As explained by Forbes, Roan has been open about her mental health in the past stating, “In 2022, before she blew up as an international superstar, she shared her bipolar 2 diagnosis in a post to Instagram, explaining that she was on meds, ‘in full-swing hypomania,’ when she released her single ‘Naked in Manhattan,’ and in intensive therapy four days a week.”
Other celebrities have supported her decisions.
Ricky Montgomery posted on his “X” account, “If you want to see how celebrities become socially isolated and suffer from intense mental illness despite their success, look no further than what the internet is doing to Chappell Roan for the great crime of asking for space.”
“No” can be an incredibly powerful word and boundaries are important to set, but both are hard to express. It becomes harder when you say “no” or you set a boundary and thousands of people call you awful names for it.
Boundaries are defined as “personal limits that define what we are willing to accept and what we are not” as stated by PAPYRUS.
“What shes doing is going to be a complete rewrite to the way celebrities create boundaries,” expressed Norah McCabe, ’25, “especially for child celebrities that are coming into the spotlight. They have to deal with a lot of creeps and setting boundaries can help them with that.”
It’s essential to set boundaries for your health and safety. Setting boundaries can “establish and maintain healthy relationships, prevent burnout and resentment, and protect our mental health and well-being.”
Is it so wrong that Chappell Roan wants to feel safe doing what she loves?
Setting boundaries as an up-and-coming artist is an incredibly risky yet brave stance, yet Roan asserts herself unapologetically.
The abnormal treatment of celebrities isn’t new, but Roan has opened up an important conversation. Famous people need to be treated like humans.
“The way shes going about this is a little much ,” added McCabe,”She’s getting really misinterpreted and what she says is taken out of context. I really think she needs a PR (public relations) team to help her out.”
Although harassment of celebrities pertains to both genders, it seems like this treatment can more easily be connected to women. From Taylor Swift to Princess Diana and Drew Barrymore, they seem to take the brunt of the treatment.
It seems like most people have a god-like view of famous people. Instead of treating them like humans, they treat them like otherworldly creatures or emotionless robots meant to entertain.
It’s time people take a step back and think, “If I did this to a normal person would it be considered harassment?” when dealing with famous people.
Most celebrities have been criticized for appearances and their personal life. It seems like when people gain a large following the right to privacy is taken away. Suddenly they owe the world everything they have.
So has Roans been unreasonable or is she just expressing a normal human reaction?
