Chappell Roan Has a Heated Moment With a Rude Photographer Before Her Win at MTV VMAs 2024
- When a photographer misbehaved with Chappell Roan at the VMA red carpet, the singer clapped back at his rudeness and instead told him to shut up.
- No matter how badly the photographers or anyone else behaves with her, she will not let her guard down or be crushed by the negativity.
- The singer chose to honor her grandfather with her stage name by taking his last name as her first name.
The music industry is reveling in the magic of the latest MTV Video Music Awards with various singers earning more than one nomination and subsequent wins. The singer best known for making synth-pop and inspiring her music from the 2000s pop classics is Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, known professionally as Chappell Roan.
Roan even won the VMA for Best New Artist for her song Island at the 2024 ceremony. She was nominated in more categories, including Best Trending Video and MTV Push Performer of the Year. However, one incident during the red carpet photo op overshadowed her entire experience at the ceremony.
Chappell Roan’s Comeback to a Photographer Who Tells Her to Shut Up
The iconic singer Chappell Roan is not one to back down from a fight. She is a strong, agile, and smart woman, as seen in her music. So, naturally, when a photographer misbehaved with her at the VMA red carpet photo shoot, the singer clapped back at his rudeness and instead told him to shut up.
Reportedly, it seems like the photographer was trying to tell someone else to shut up as Roan was getting her dress adjusted for a good photo. But Roan assumed that she was the one being targeted. Not one to take any rubbish from someone, Roan quickly clapped back with a retort of her own and regained her footing on the red carpet. Speaking to ET about the incident soon after, she said,
This is quite overwhelming and quite scary. As someone who gets a lot of anxiety around people and with people yelling at you, the carpet is horrifying. I yelled back. You don’t get to yell at me like that.
The singer made it very clear that she is not one to trifled with. No matter how badly the photographers or anyone else behaves with her, she will not let her guard down or be crushed by the negativity. Nevertheless, everyone eventually understood her worth as she won her first award at the ceremony as Best New Artist.
Why did Chappell Roan change her name?
Like many singers and rappers, Roan also wanted a different name as her stage persona apart from her real identity. The singer chose to honor her grandfather with this name by taking his last name as her first name. In conversation with Oxford Student Newspaper Cherwell, she shared,
I have never felt super connected to my real name Kayleigh. My grandfather’s name was Dennis K. Chappell, so I took Chappell in his honor. Before he passed away in 2016 due to brain cancer, I told him that I was going to be Chappell for him.
She further claimed that she chose Roan in connection with her grandpa’s favorite song which was Strawberry Roan.
The old western song is sung about a pinkish hue horse. Roan was indeed very close to his grandfather and his death impacted her deeply. With her stage name, she carries a piece of him with her wherever she goes.
