Celebrities like Chappell Roan and Katy Perry have recently opened up about facing criticism from people online. (Photos by Gilbert Flores/Billboard and Michael Tran/AFP via Getty Images; illustration by Yahoo Canada) It turns out the Wi-Fi is off inside the Pink Pony Club: Pop star Chappell Roan recently said she no longer has social media on her phone, in an attempt to keep herself from seeing the comments fans — and importantly, detractors — post about her work and life. Roan, who has been vocal about the complexities of fame since becoming a household name last summer, stated the move was because she believes online hate to be a worsening problem, doubtlessly more so for those like her in the public eye.
Even superstar Katy Perry, who was once at the top of the pop music landscape, hasn't been immune to vitriol unleashed online. Following backlash for her 11-minute Blue Origin space flight and a ruthless response to the start of her Lifetimes Tour, it seems the "Teenage Dream" singer has been living something more akin to a nightmare. The online discourse became so prevalent that good-hearted fans decided to pitch in for a Times Square billboard reminding Perry she's "safe, seen and celebrated."
It prompted the pop icon to release her own response to the hate: "When the 'online' world tries to make me a human Piñata, I take it with grace and send them love, 'cause I know so many people are hurting in so many ways and the internet is very much so a dumping ground for unhinged and unhealed," Perry wrote in a comment on Tuesday, noting she's "OK" despite the hostility. ADVERTISEMENT In Roan's case, sending love to critics who live online hasn't necessarily been a goal. On a recent episode of the "Las Culturistas" podcast co-hosted by Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang and comedian-actor Matt Rogers, Roan shared her "personal psychology around why people hate celebrities online."
The episode's one-hour-and-change runtime has already been full of viral moments (a mini-wave of think pieces on Roan's opinions on veneers, for example, has already come and gone). But possibly the most noteworthy takeaway was Roan's stance on the state of modern celebrity and how it ties into the social media platforms we love (and love to hate). Why some fans may feel a sense of betrayal It's worth noting that there are experts ready to back these stars up.
Renee Ann Drouin, an English professor at Penn State Harrisburg who's in the midst of writing a book about online hate, considered Roan a "very interesting case study" in the realm of research on fandoms and what Drouin calls "anti-fandoms." She noted seeing Roan as "someone who presents themselves as authentic and earns fans through that authenticity — then immediately has backlash when the perceived values they've assigned her don't match with what they believe to be an authentic self." ADVERTISEMENT That type of backlash is, Drouin added, growing: "I've been monitoring different forums, not specifically of [Roan], but I do a lot of internet research.
A lot of forums, like under Reddit, for example, are turning on her. In part, the language is how she is betrayed, and is not being as vocal and active [as she has been previously]." This turning tide could stem from any number of viral soundbites Roan has lobbed like grenades since she set up shop in the spotlight last year.
For one, there's the string of videos the singer posted in August 2024 — as she moved into mainstream territory for the first time following her record-setting crowd sizes at music festivals like Lollapalooza and Osheaga — where she spoke candidly about abuse and harassment that followed her rocketing stardom. "I don't care that this crazy type of behaviour comes along with the job, the career field I've chosen," the latest Grammy winner for Best New Artist noted in one of these clips. "That does not make it OK." To Drouin, it's all a clear path: "The fact a lot of the hatred is now coming through her perceived actions does make sense, because for some people, she's not being overly loud about protecting queer voices or drag, which is something she's adopted as part of her persona," she said of Roan.
"And instead, when her core fan base is under attack, she's not using this large platform to speak as loudly as she once did under a Democrat." A case of enmeshing celebrity and politics According to Drouin's research, this morality-infused disdain is the newest evolution of online hate: Once an activity linked in public imagination as centred around vitriolic threats (for example, death threats in one's DMs), these days online hate frequently sees the haters telling the hated they are less ethical for certain viewpoints, actions or — just as often — inaction on various issues. ADVERTISEMENT Interestingly, Drouin added this "you're-a-bad-person-and-here's-why" genre of comment tends to come from women and teens.
These are demographics who are newer to the hater-sphere and, she said, growing fast in that space. Teenagers can't go to the mall or the park anymore, but they can go online and create hate mobs and find people they're unified by.Renee Ann Drouin But for Roan in particular (a musician whose tagline "your favourite artist's favourite artist" was a boldface homage to drag queen Sasha Colby), the personal and political never stood a chance of not being enmeshed, try as she might to prise them apart now. Roan also made an appearance on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast, hosted by Alex Cooper, in late March.
"Her attitude was that you can't turn to pop stars for politics and that 'you shouldn't be looking for me for politics,'" Drouin noted of the interview. "But then: Hey, she had an opinion during the election. Now, do I think her take was something we needed to demonize her for compared to other people?
No. Do I think it was a little amount of proportion? Yes."
MORE CELEBRITY NEWS ON YAHOO CANADA: Drouin continues: "But, drag is inherently queer. And queer people — and the act of drag — is also political. And seeing her now, after she's gotten her fame and acclaim, turn to 'don't look at me for politics'?
But when you have such a large platform, and you, before, when your platform wasn't as big, were willing to be openly political? Especially during a time when it was safe for her under a Democrat? It doesn't really fly with a lot of fans."
Chappell Roan, whose real name is Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, is a drag persona who she previously said is "more open and confident […] especially regarding sex" than her real self. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic) Social media is a double-edged sword for stars In a way, it feels bold for someone who's been a household name for less than two years to make a case that this is the worst era for celebrity hate. In recent years, a cultural reckoning has seen the tabloid treatment of famous women from the early 2000s be re-evaluated (thanks in no small part to the 2021 documentary Framing Britney Spears).
ADVERTISEMENT In those days, a paparazzi shot of three young stars in a cab could be slapped with a headline dubbing them the "Bimbo Summit." It's the sort of establishment put-down impossible to imagine going to print today over an image of young pop stars today, like Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish or Roan herself. "I grew up in the 2000s with Britney Spears, where her breakdown was being filmed on television, and she had wall-to-wall press coverage," Drouin added, saying modern celebrities have the option to opt out of the churn of discourse by stepping back.
If, for example, you got famous through your social media profile — like on TikTok — it's a double edged-sword.Renee Ann Drouin "Online hatred can be very overwhelming. I'm not saying it can't be: I study it, I work with it. And we've had hatred in years prior," Drouin shared, adding that pre-social media, hatred of celebrities "couldn't be as overwhelming," in one sense due to the lack of direct access between fans and the famous.
But "if, for example, you got famous through your social media profile — like on TikTok — it's a double edged-sword, where, yes, there are issues of online harassment. But because you used the medium to become famous, it's a different trade-off than someone who was a celebrity in the '80s, '90s and early aughts." ADVERTISEMENT Drouin said that it's the volume of comments and the speed at which they mount up that can be the hardest of being on the receiving end of online hate.
Moreover, the way people feel they need to partake in the discussion online within minutes is probably the aspect that people who aren't as terminally online don't initially grasp. She added it's worth reminding people that words have consequences: Recalling that the person you're about to tag in an earth-salting tweet is, in fact, just a person can be enough to stop your thumb from hitting "post." Let us know what you think by commenting below and tweeting @YahooStyleCA!
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