Fiona Apple has shared her thoughts about the overturning of Roe v. Wade, saying that the repeal is “not about life. It’s about control”.
Last week, the US Supreme Court made the decision to overturn the landmark abortion ruling Roe v. Wade. This means abortion will no longer be protected as a federal right in the US for the first time since 1973, and each state will be able to decide individually whether to restrict or ban abortion.
On Sunday (June 26), Apple shared a video online in which she discusses how unacceptable the new ruling is and says that it’s important people talk about how they feel.
“We have to talk about how we feel about this, how unacceptable this is, have to keep expressing ourselves because this is all about control. You know that,” Apple says at the start of her video message.
“It’s all about control,” she continues. “It’s not about life. It’s about control. It’s about control of women, about control of our bodies, about taking our control of our own bodies away, about taking our autonomy and our privacy and our agency away, taking our choices about what we can do with our lives away.
“It’s about control. That’s what it’s about. It’s about control, just like a sexual assault is about control. That’s why this feels like a sexual assault, ’cause peoples hands and bodies and… in our bodies that don’t belong there, that we don’t want.”
Apple later adds: “I’m not going to be giving money to politicians… What I’m going to be doing is I’m going to be giving money directly to abortion funds and to bail funds.”
You can see the singer-songwriter’s video message below:
A number of other figures from the world of entertainment have spoken out against the Supreme Court’s reversal, including Taylor Swift, Pearl Jam, Charli XCX, Maggie Rogers, Green Day, Finneas, Yungblud, Alicia Keys and more.
Madonna was among those who shared her thoughts about the overturning, saying that the decision has sent her into “deep despair”.
Some used their performance at Glastonbury this past weekend to speak out, including Lorde who told the crowd: “You wanna know a secret, girls? Your bodies were destined to be controlled and objectified since before you were born. That horror is your birthright.”
Phoebe Bridgers led her audience in chanting “Fuck the Supreme Court” on Friday night (June 24), while Billie Eilish used her headline set on the same night to make reference to the decision.
On Saturday (June 25), Olivia Rodrigo brought out Lily Allen to sing the British star’s ‘Fuck You’ together. Before they began the song, Rodrigo told the Other Stage crowd: “I’m devastated I’m terrified and so many women and so many girls are going to die because of this. I wanted to dedicate this song to the five members of the supreme court, who showed us that at the end of the day they truly don’t give a shit about freedom.”
Rodrigo also dedicated the song to the five justices involved in the overturning, individually naming each one.
Kendrick Lamar closed his set at Worthy Farm with an emotional speech thanking fans, followed by a performance of ‘Savior’. At the end of the ‘Mr. Morale And The Big Steppers’ track, he repeated the chant: “They judge you, they judged Christ. Godspeed for women’s rights”, before promptly leaving the stage as fake blood poured down from his crown of thorns.