Chappell Roan admits she does ‘give a f—‘ about internet backlash: ‘It makes me cry’

Just because Chappell Roan doesn’t hesitate to voice her opinion, doesn’t mean she’s immune to the backlash.

While joining forces with SZA for a wide-ranging conversation about everything from fairies to the perils of fame, the “Pink Pony Club” singer admitted that she does “give a f—” about the backlash she receives for speaking her mind.

“I didn’t, until people started hating me for me and not for my art,” Roan admitted in Interview Magazine. “When it’s not about my art anymore, it’s like, ‘They hate me because I’m Kayleigh, not because they hate the songs that I make.’ That’s when it changed.”

She continued, “I didn’t realize I’d care so much. When it comes to my art, I’m like, ‘Bitch, you can think whatever you want. You are allowed to hate it with all your guts.’ But when it comes to me and my personality, it’s like, ‘Damn. Am I the most insufferable bitch of our generation?’”

No stranger to being in the spotlight herself, SZA could relate. “No, because if you are, then I really am,” she told Roan. “It’s comforting to know that you give a fuck, because from the outside, you can come off as so superhuman.”

The last few years have seen Roan rocket to fame, following the release of her 2023 album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. After the success of her inescapable 2024 single “Good Luck, Babe!,” Roan was filling venues, headlining various festivals and eventually picked up a Grammy for Best New Artist. 

But Roan’s success was accompanied by a wave of outrage as she frequently spoke her mind, calling out photographers for being rude and fans for being “creepy.” At one point, she drew backlash for stating that she didn’t “feel pressured to endorse someone” in the 2024 presidential election, arguing “there’s problems on both sides.” Then, in February, she upset some by using her Grammy speech to demand that record labels offer health care to developing artists. 

“It makes me cry,” Roan said of the negative comments she received. “I don’t know if it will ever feel okay to hear someone say something really hateful about me.”

As for her approach to fame, Roan added, “I think that I’m doing it the way I want to, but not everyone likes that. I will yell at a bitch on the carpet. I think that right now in my career, I’m just trying to see if the way I’ve been doing it is sustainable. Am I okay with the backlash of speaking my mind? That’s where I am right now.”

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Roan has previously addressed the criticisms that her bluntness has drawn. Earlier this year she joked that she might “be more successful if I was okay wearing a muzzle.” 

She laughed, “If I were to override more of my basic instincts, where my heart is going, ‘Stop, stop, stop, you’re not okay,’ I would be bigger. I would be way bigger.”