Rising pop star Chappell Roan has had it with people she says are stalking and harassing her, yelling at her on the street and getting mad when she refuses to be photographed with them.
She’s angry, too, that some people have gone so far as to find out where her parents live.
That is not a price of fame the 26-year-old Willard, Missouri native is willing to pay, which the “Hot to Go!” singer made clear in two TikToks posted Monday. Those TikToks have been viewed more than 2.5 million times. (The comments section is turned off.)
Roan said as recently as last month this is the kind of stuff that would make her quit her career. After nearly a decade in the music business, Roan — whose music and fashion are inspired by drag — is enjoying the attention of an overnight sensation this year.
Her debut album from last year, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” remains on a steady climb to the top, hitting No. 2 on the Billboard Albums chart this week. Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” is No. 1.
Earlier this month Roan performed to a massive crowd at Lollapalooza in Chicago — said to be the festival’s biggest daytime set eve r — earning kudos from Katy Perry, Demi Lovato and others.
Before Lollapalooza she performed at Coachella in April and opened for Olivia Rodrigo on her Guts tour. She released her latest single, “Good Luck, Babe!” in April.
But the behavior of some of her followers has clearly angered her, as seen in her fiery TikToks, where she addresses viewers directly.
“I need you to answer questions. Just answer my questions for a second,” she said.
“If you saw a random woman on the street, would you yell at her from the car window? Would you harass her in public? Would you go up to a random lady and say can I get a photo with you?
“And she’s like, no, what the (bleep)? And then you get mad at this random lady. Would you be offended if she says no to your time because she has her own time? Would you stalk her family? Would you follow her around?
“Would you try to dissect her life and bully her online?”
Roan talked about the downside of her sudden fame last month with popular influencer Drew Afualo, host of the “Comment Section” podcast .
Roan, born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, grew up in a conservative Christian home in Willard , a town of about 6,300 northwest of Springfield in Greene County. She left Willard behind for Los Angeles after Atlantic Records found her on YouTube and signed her while she was in high school.
She told Afualo her sudden rise to fame has left her tired and scared, calling it “the most insane year ever.”
“People have started to be freaks,” she said. “Like (they) follow me … know where my parents live and … where my sister works, all this weird (stuff).
“This is the time when I was, like a few years ago, that I said if … stalker vibes, like family was in danger, is when I would quit.
“We’re there. We’re there!’”
She said she has “pumped the brakes” on doing anything to make herself more known.
She amplified those thoughts on TikTok, where she has 3 million followers.
“I don’t care that abuse and harassment, stalking, whatever, is a normal thing to do to people who are, um, famous or a little famous, whatever,” she said.
“i don’t care that it’s normal. I don’t care that this crazy type of behavior comes along with the job, the career field I’ve chosen. That does not make it OK. That does not make it normal. It doesn’t mean I want it. It doesn’t mean that I like it.
“It’s weird how people think that you know a person just cause you see them online and you listen to the art they make. That’s (bleeping) weird.. I’m allowed to say no to creepy behavior, OK?”
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