The Difference Between Criticism and Hate Regarding Chappell Roan and Rachel Zegler
I guess it was always casual!
When I told my boyfriend about Chappell Roan’s interview on Call Her Daddy, and how it left a bad taste in my mouth, he told me “but you're a fan of the Weeknd, and didn’t he make The Idol?” Of course, he had a point about separating the art from the artist. Yet it irked me. Not because I’m a die-hard Weeknd fan, even if I enjoy his music and went to the After Hours tour back in 2022. It bothered me because the show ‘The Idol’ is pitched as a satire but has no real basis in reality. Everything is fictional. There’s no real world equivalent to Jocelyn or Tedros. In all honesty, My boyfriend is not entirely wrong; the Weeknd did play a role in how badly received the Idol was with his acting, but a lot of the events that went down throughout the plot of the show is a staple of Sam Levinson’s work as a showrunner and writer. My boyfriend has never seen an episode of Euphoria.
It also irked me because my boyfriend is a fan of Tyler the Creator, who famously rapped about sexually assaulting a pregnant woman and tweeted about a barely legal Selena Gomez.
But of course, I love my boyfriend enough to not argue with him about who’s more morally gray.
However, separating the art from the artist didn’t shake the feeling of my general disgust with the Call her Daddy interview. It’s no surprise that the Midwest Princess, who is branded as someone who’s abrasive, is riddled with controversy. Yet, most of the things she’s said I’ve agreed with; paparazzi’s are weirdos and yes, fame is difficult to deal with. However, there were several points Chappell made where she completely lost me. Everyone on Tik Tok is up in arms about statements made on motherhood (yes, she did mention mothers several times in her interview, not just parents) and everyone on Threads and Twitter (X) is upset over her stance on being an activist.
I’ll get one thing out of the way: she’s not entirely wrong about being a parent, even if I believe it isn’t something she’s that knowledgeable about. There are many systemic barriers that negatively impact mothers and children, making motherhood difficult for a lot of women. However, it’s impeccably clear that Chappell’s perspective lacks nuance; she’s basing her belief on her friends, who probably confided in her privately regarding their problems with motherhood. Chappell, wanting to be child free, views that as misery. People who are child free love to use people who should not be parents as reasons to why they’re child free, and people who shouldn’t be parents love to critique and envy child free people. Someone who has a child and embraces both the struggles and the rewards of parenthood is rarely in the conversation. Making a generalization of motherhood, a subjective experience, is emotionally immature. Even if I'm not personally offended by her comment, I can still acknowledge the complexities of both arguments, and the idea that Roan is not a safe person to vent to if you’re her friend that’s a mother.
This feeds into the other topic of activism, because Roan, in the past, has been extremely left leaning through their art. Many leftist ideals embrace children because to exclude children is to exclude women; you’re happily entitled to a child free life, but not a child free world. (This part isn’t directed at or about Chappell, but one thing I do hate is people who despise children and often joke about hurting them. Pack it up Casey Anthony).
However, that’s my other critique of the Call her Daddy interview (other than the fact that Alex Cooper is a terrible interviewer) regarding the branding, the art, and the persona of Chappell Roan; mixing with the thoughts, experiences, and opinions of Kayleigh Rose.
Ever since she arrived on our screens, our spotify playlists, and our radio stations; Chappell has used her queer identity and drag culture as a brand for herself. Before, if someone came up to you and asked you to picture a sapphic artist, the best you could probably do was someone like Girl in Red or Hayley Kiyoko; someone who has broken into the online spaces of queer culture but not the mainstream. Now, there's Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl Chappell Roan, and every controversy that comes with her. The truth is that Chappell Roan chose to dress up as Lady Liberty at the Gov Ball, and publicly declined performing at pride during the Biden Administration due to the Palestinian Genocide. Chappell Roan chose to go to the VMAs and chose to go on Call Her Daddy and, most importantly, chose her brand to be queer focused and drag inspired.
Everyone has a brand. I have a brand. You have a brand, and to quote my favorite marketing youtuber ZoeUnlimited; your brand is how your future college, future boss, and future partner see you. Whether you choose to use it to monetize yourself is up to you, and your brand down to the aesthetics and values is entirely up to you.
Though you can chop Chappell's branding to her being herself, a queer woman, there're plenty of queer artists that don’t use their sexuality as branding. How many of you knew that Lady Gaga or Megan Thee Stallion were bisexual? Or know that Brandi Carlile is a lesbian? To use your standing as a minority as branding is to recognize the fine line between the ethical representation of that label and unethical monetization of that label (i.e performative activism). Being a minority in America, in this moment of time, will always be political. Especially when your brand also is heavily inspired by Drag and Drag artists; which is famously political and was founded on the backs of black and hispanic queer/trans people.
So when you speak up against the Biden administration, which had been actively trying to protect queer rights, and not endorse a qualified presidential candidate on the basis that both parties are bad (which, no one disagrees with, but time and place), and stay quiet when a fascist regime gets elected only to say “I can’t keep up with politics right now, stop looking to me for opinions” it, of course, will rub people the wrong way. Especially mispronouncing the former vice president’s name which borders on a micro-aggression, but god forbid someone doesn’t know how to say your stage name.
No one is basing their political opinion on what Kayleigh Rose from Willard, Missouri has to say. In fact, I personally believe that the people who do are the ones that infantilize and defend her no matter what. But here’s a little piece of queer history from your local bisexual girl with a boyfriend: in 1981, the AIDs epidemic started popping up, but it took until 1985 for president Ronald Reagan to formally acknowledge the epidemic. Of course, Reagan did nothing about it, but you know who did? Hollywood Actress Elizabeth Taylor. In fact, she started the Elizabeth Taylor Aids Foundation in 1991. Since then, it’s become normal for celebrities to speak up and raise awareness about conflicts the general public is already aware about. To raise awareness, as a powerful or famous person, is to point your finger at the ones in charge because you’re more closer to them than the actual public is.
Chappell says “I wish the president was a popstar.” and the closest we got to that was a Movie star in the eighties, who did nothing to stop the AIDs epidemic from harming the queer community, and a Reality TV star who is actively trying to strip the rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people. Just…wow.
The reason people want her to speak up is because she said, verbatim, that she was a voice. Her whole brand depended on her being this voice, because how else is she going to set herself apart from Sabrina Carpenter and Olivia Rodrigo?–and I don’t see anyone hounding Carpenter or Rodrigo to speak up about the current state of the world. People don’t want to blindly follow Chappell Roan; they want her to raise awareness like she did for Palestine at the Gov Ball. People want to know that the art they're consuming and the person behind it is fighting for the very thing she said she believed in. People want to consume art ethically, and yes, people are entitled to that. (hell, i’m not friends with people who voted for trump, what makes you think i’ll listen to music made by someone who voted for him? Unlike Chappell, who cites Jason Aldean as an inspiration)
This general resistance, coupled with a few non-media friendly soundbites, and the sudden shift to country with her song The Giver (which is drastically dropping in streams) just proves one thing and one thing only; saying that you shouldn’t be the one to speak up politically after making your brand political is white privilege, it shows that since you’re rich and white, the rules don’t apply to you. Why do you have to keep up with it when people who work two jobs, go to college, have families, and can’t afford the bills can do it for you? It’s ignorant. It’s why ethnic and poc queer people will always distrust white queer people. And if drag artists and black/hispanic/etc queer people are saying that she’s appropriating drag culture, then who am I, the whitest Puerto Rican queer ever, to disagree?
When I told my mom about this drama over brunch the other day, she told me that Roan was actually a trump supporter, and can’t be too transparent about her beliefs; and if you look at the fact that her uncle is Darin Chappell, a republican representative from Missouri who’s actively fighting against queer rights in her home state; who Chappell Roan says she ‘still loves’ then yeah, it’s only natural to reach that conclusion. I disagree. However, if I must speak candidly, I believe the truth is that Chappell believed she was a radical leftist at home, only to hit the real world and realize she’s more conservative than the average leftist.
And I know Chappell can do all what she says she can’t and won't do, as much as she moans and complains about it, because Rachel Zeagler is right here; smiling, dressed up as snow white, and not backpedaling on her beliefs after receiving actual hate for supporting palestine.
Rachel Zeagler, a Colombian–American actress who’s been hit with multiple box office failures due to circumstances like shitty co-stars (Ansel Elgort for West Side Story and Zachery Levi for Shazam 2) and underwhelming marketing (Y2K and the Hunger Games; The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes), has had her recent box office attempt fail because of people boycotting the film, Snow White; either for her for supporting palestine, or for her co-star Gal Gadot who is against Palestine and is a true zionist, and who also would be great in a new adaptation of The Room (2003) with how unenthusiastic and dull she is as an actress. Of course, there’s other reasons why the film is being boycotted; such as Disney using AI for the dwarfs, which, at that point, don’t make the live action because you’re having a robot animate half the movie. (which is my same criticism for any of the lion king live actions).
However, within the scope of the public, it’s Zeagler who’s getting the most flak, none of the comments being about her acting or singing; because the truth is that Zeagler is multi-talented. The comments are actually either misogynistic, zionist in nature, or racially motivated. The majority of the reviews from the film are about how much someone hates Zeagler, as the movie continues to be review-bombed.
Zeagler isn’t the only one who’s experienced this phenomenon; Melissa Barrerra was fired in 2023 by the production company SpyGlass for Scream 7 for supporting Palestine. In suit, Jenna Ortega left the film as well (and Jasmin Savoy-Brown deleted her pro-Palestine posts on instagram, but that’s a topic for another day.). Barrerra received a sleuth of internet hate and since her departure from the Scream Franchise, her other films such as Abigail and Your Monster have been box office duds. It has nothing to do with her range and talent as an actress, and everything to do with being black listed in hollywood and being public enemy #1 for supporting Palestine.
So, let me get this straight. You can dress up as the Statue of Liberty at the Gov Ball, and say you're in support of Palestine, and it will skyrocket your career; but if you’re playing Snow White or this generation’s Sidney Prescott and you say you support Palestine, you’re getting mass hate and black balled from the industry. I wonder what the difference is between these three women, I just can’t put my finger on it...
The Rachel hate is forced. The Melissa hate is forced. Hell, the Doechii hate is forced. The Ariana hate is forced–we officially have more evidence of Chappell Roan being ignorant and a bad ally then we do have evidence of Ariana ever homewrecking that relationship, but if Ariana Grande was saying she doesn’t get involved with politics, y’all would put her head on a stick. But since it’s Chappell Roan it’s okay, she’s always right, right guys? In fact, apparently Grande called Zeagler several times recently to support her, when was the last time Roan said anything about the cause that launched her to stardom?
And while we’re on that topic, the Weeknd donated 2 million dollars to feed people in Gaza. What the fuck has Tyler the Creator done?!
I’m tired of seeing society make the same mistake of giving a platform to someone who cuts corners. It’s the reason why we have the president that we have, and the out of touch movie stars that we have, and now, the entitled artists we have now. I can’t entirely blame people for starting to dislike her, as much as I’m still a fan of her music (yes, I still have a Chappell Roan poster in my room regardless of what’s been written in this article). Those who agree with her stance on politics should not expect celebrities to speak up the next time there’s a conflict like Palestine of BLM; because Chappell is setting the standard that celebrities don’t need to talk about these issues. They’re just popstars :((( !1!1! And I’ll end this article with a saying that people usually tell mothers when they have any qualms about motherhood, because it fits so well for Chappell; you chose this.
