Lily Allen has praised Chappell Roan for “changing the landscape” around fan behaviour and personal boundaries for artists.
The pop singer was speaking on her BBC Sounds podcast Miss Me? with Miquita Oliver when she revealed she’s been “on the Chappell Roan train” for well over a year, describing the ‘Hot To Go!’ singer as “awe-inspiring”.
The conversation stemmed from Roan’s open dialogue about concerning fan behaviour during her rise over the past few years, including a highly-publicised series of TikToks she posted over the summer about “weird” and “creepy” she’d experienced in public.
Allen said it was “really amazing that she knows herself and knows her boundaries and is happy to articulate that” at the beginning of her career, despite the backlash she might receive.
“It’s kind of amazing to come out the gates and be like, ‘No, this is not gonna happen with me. I don’t care if I lose it all’.”
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Allen also referenced the footage of Roan snapping back at a VMAs photographer, saying: “The amount of times I’ve stood on a red carpet and people have said horrible things to me to get a reaction, you know, asked me to show a little bit more skin, it’s disgusting. But I’ve never had the guts to tell someone to F-off, I mean I have actually, but not in such a direct way.”
The ‘Smile’ singer went on to share that her husband, Stranger Things actor David Harbour, had experienced a “palpable” change in people approaching him on the street since Roan spoke out.
Allen is the latest artist to come out in support of Roan’s stance around fan behaviour.
Roan revealed that Charli XCX was the first person to reach out to her about pressures of fame, telling her that “this is about to get really hard”.
Lorde also sent her a list of ways to deal with negativity and her meteoric rise to fame, and a number of other huge artists have offered their support, including Billie Eilish, Katy Perry, MUNA, Miley Cyrus, boygenius, Sabrina Carpenter and Mitski.
Adele also recently revealed that she’s a fan of the “absolutely amazing” Roan. “She’s got, like, seven fucking brilliant songs. I think she’s absolutely amazing,” she told fans during a live show.
“I’m very excited for her, but my friend also said she’s a bit scared. So, do what you gotta do, baby girl, but you’re phenomenal.”
Roan asserted in one of her videos: “I don’t care that abuse and harassment, stalking, whatever is a normal thing to do to people who are famous or a little famous, whatever. I don’t care that it’s normal. 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 okay.”