Chappell Roan’s Worst Controversy To Date Dealt a Huge Blow to Her Image Despite Many Audacious Moves

Popularly known for her camp and drag queen-influenced aesthetic, singer-songwriter Chappell Roan released her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, in 2023. The album received critical acclaim and was regarded as a sleeper hit, which was eventually nominated at the 67th Grammy Awards.

The artist opened for fellow singer Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour Tour and Guts World Tour. She describes her music style as a mix of organic and electronic sounds with a pop tone. She was described as an innovative art-pop auteur by Billboard in 2024, but she couldn’t escape one controversy that dragged her image down on social media.

Fans were disappointed with Chappell Roan choosing VMAs over performing for her fans

Artist Chappell Roan is regarded as one of the biggest viral pop sensations of 2024 and describes herself as ‘your favourite artist’s favourite artist.’

She is surely one of the music artists everyone’s been talking about and recently won Best New Artist at the Grammys 2025. But to be on top of her game, Roan had to face a lot of challenges, along with being dragged online and held accountable for her actions.

One of her hyped controversies was her choosing to perform at the MTV Video Music Awards 2024 and canceling her shows in Paris at very short notice. She, at the time, released a note stating (via Independent)

Due to scheduling conflicts, I have had to make the extremely hard decision to cancel my Paris and Amsterdam shows. I have rescheduled my Berlin show to 23 September. I am so sorry and very disappointed. I promise I will be back. I am heartbroken. Thank you for understanding.

However, it was later revealed that the singer had canceled her shows to perform at the MTV Video Music Awards 2024. Fans were not very happy with the way she handled the situation, and one of the fans mentioned (via Independent)

I love Chappell, but canceling a show 5 days before because of ‘scheduling’ conflicts when the rumor had been going around for weeks already is kind of shitty.

Angry and disappointed fans who had booked their flights and accommodation and were supposed to travel to Paris and Amsterdam took to their social media to share that Roan is unprofessional.

One of the users mentioned, ‘Oh, ‘scheduling conflicts’ is always a pretty way of saying, ‘We found something more interesting for my career than a little European show.’ Fans were very disappointed and disheartened by Chappell Roan’s decision.

Chappell Roan responds to the negative feedback on her Grammys 2025 speech

The singer recently won Best New Artist at the Grammys 2025 and received a standing ovation from the audience. In her acceptance speech, the singer urged the music labels to provide more support to the artists [especially developing artists] in terms of healthcare and livable wages.

She mentioned that she was signed to a label at a very young age and then was dropped when she had zero job experience under her belt and had a difficult time finding a job. Roan mentioned she couldn’t afford health insurance during the pandemic, and she felt devastated to be committed to her art and betrayed by the system. She said while accepting the award,

Record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a livable wage and health insurance and protection. Labels, we got you, but do you have us?

Chappell Roan’s speech did not sit right with executives, including music executive Jeff Rabhan, who wrote an op-ed for The Hollywood Reporter and branded the artist as ‘disingenuous.’. He described that she is profiting from the industry that she called out while accepting the Best New Artist award. He said her speech was noble but wildly misinformed.

Rabhan, in his op-ed, mentioned that Roan is no longer a struggling artist, so instead of giving a speech, she should do something about it. In response to that, according to BBC, Chappell Roan donated $25,000 to support struggling artists and encouraged the music executive to match her donation. She also mentioned that she loved the fact that the op-ed said, ‘Put your money where your mouth is.’

Halsey came in support of Roan and criticized the article on her social media, stating (via ABC),

‘If you want to profit off of someone else’s art, that artist should have the basic living means to feel safe enough to create that art.’

The Without Me singer went ahead and slammed the writer for comparing Chappell to Taylor Swift, Prince, and Tom Petty, whom he describes as the real industry disruptors.

She mentioned that Chappell hasn’t even spun the block enough times to see the residue of her long-earned success. Halsey concluded her rant by calling Jeff Rahbah’s op-ed a book-licking behavior.