Chappell Roan is famous for her pop songs Pink Pony Club, Red Wine Supernova, and Good Luck, Babe, but more recently, she’s also known for her fiery personality. Many in the media are starting to label Roan’s personality as “aggressive”, “rude”, or “entitled”. She was under fire almost two years ago at the 2024 MTV VMA’s where she responded to photographers saying to “Shut the f*ck up,” by telling them, “You shut the f*ck up,” and has since built an anti-paparazzi image.
Recently, she’s been under fire for an incident that happened during Lollapalooza involving a security team and the soccer player, Jorginho Frello’s (known as Jorginho). On his Instagram story, Jorghino posted saying that his wife, Catherine Harding, and her daughter, Ada Law, were really excited to see Chappell Roan, but that Chappell Roan’s security guard was extremely aggressive towards Harding and Law. According to CBC, Jorginho believes that Chappell doesn’t deserve her fans’ attention.
This incident is shining a negative light on Chappell, where fans are bashing her for the incident, saying that if she didn’t want the attention, she shouldn’t be famous. But when you look back at the way the paparazzi and media have treated celebrities in the past, it’s clear why Chappell Roan sets such strong boundaries.
Emma Watson’s 18th birthday
In 2008, Emma Watson was a popular name in the media, with her recent performances as Hermione in the Harry Potter movie adaptations taking off. She turned 18 in April that year, and celebrated by throwing a birthday party. But when she stepped outside, she was greeted by the paparazzi who were lined up on the streets and lying down, hoping to get upskirt shots now that she was of age.
A Cosmopolitan article from 2016 quotes Watson, where she explains the incident, saying these photographers published these photos the next day on the front cover of English newspapers. “If they had published the photos 24 hours earlier, they would have been illegal, but because I had just turned 18, they were legal”. It’s disturbing and horrifying to think of the swarm of paparazzi, hiding behind their cameras as they shoot up the skirt of a freshly turned 18-year-old
Britney Spears “Dropped her baby”
Throughout the early 2000s, Britney Spears was frequently harassed by the media as her fame continued to peak. An incident in May 2006 highlights this harassment and the toll it was taking on her.
Spears stepped out of her New York hotel holding her eight-month-old son, Sean Preston, and was instantly swarmed by the paparazzi. They were getting so close to her that they kept bumping into her, causing her to lose her grip on Sean, and he slipped through her arms. Luckily, she caught him before he fell, but the incident was enough for Spears to break down crying, and she sat in a nearby diner to collect herself.
A diner employee saw this as a chance to take photos of her in distress, and later tried to sell these images without her consent. About a year later in 2007, was when Britney shaved her head and the “umbrella incident” happened, where she attacked a paparazzo’s car using an umbrella. Not gonna lie, if someone took photos of me crying in a diner, I’d also be pissed and lash out. Britney later discusses the issue in her memoir, The Woman in Me, where she explains that shaving her head and acting out was her way of pushing back against the media who had tormented her for years.
Body shaming Billie Eilish
Back in 2020, Billie Eilish typically wore baggy clothes, like big t-shirts and oversized pants, to avoid being sexualized by fans and the media. In a Calvin Klein ad, she explains that she wears these clothes so “nobody can have an opinion, because they haven’t seen what’s underneath”.
However, she was photographed outside while wearing a tight tank top and shorts, which showed off her body in a way that hadn’t been seen before. The internet flipped out. Fans and non-fans were nonstop commenting on her body and frequently shaming her appearance. A Hola! article quotes a tweet saying, “In 10 months Billie Eilish has developed a mid-30’s wine mom body.”
Soon after the photographs were posted and the hate was received, she posted a photo on Instagram with the caption, “do you really wanna go back in time?” which fans took as clapping back at the body shamers. She later released the short film to her song “Not My Responsibility” which fans also believe is a response to the comments about her body.
Lindsay Lohan’s paparazzi PTSD
Like Spears, Lindsay Lohan was also a popular face the paparazzi hunted down in the early 2000s. She got into a handful of car tussles with the paparazzi, where she’d drive intoxicated, running away from the paparazzi’s flashes. A 2013 Complex article shames her, saying “she can’t do anything right” and calling her a “perennial f*ck-up and tabloid magnet”.
Most of these incidents happened between 2005 and 2007, which led to a big impact on Lohan’s health in those years. This was the time when she was struggling with addiction, making trips to rehab, and going to jail for intoxicated driving. CNN quotes Lohan when she discusses these incidents, and she describes them as being “totally irresponsible” and “a stupid mistake”.
Today, Lohan reflects on these incidents with the paparazzi and her addiction in a People article, where she also touches on protecting her family. “I don’t ever want my family to experience being chased by the paparazzi the way I was,” she says, describing them as “terrifying moments” and “the most invasive situations”.
She goes on to explain that she frequently takes her son, Luai, into consideration and tries hard to protect him from the media. “It’s not safe. It’s not fair,” she says about the paparazzi.
The paparazzi (might’ve) killed Princess Diana
I actually can’t confirm that the paparazzi killed Princess Diana, but many online conspiracies suggest that the media was the real reason that the Princess of Wales is no longer with us.
The 1997 car crash killed Princess Diana, her partner, Dodi Fayed, and Henri Paul, their chauffeur. Princess Diana’s bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, was also in the car but survived with serious injuries. Paul was found to have alcohol in his system, and his reckless driving was found to be what caused the crash, but many point out how the paparazzi played into the events of the evening.
The Guardian’s article describes how the car was swarmed by paparazzi that night, taking photo after photo of the couple in the back seat until their car began to swerve and crashed. The paparazzi stayed after the crash and continued to take photos of the deceased passengers. No paprazzi was charged on account of the alcohol in Paul’s system, but it’s fair to question if the camera’s flashing could’ve blinded Paul as well, leaving him further incapable of driving. The lack of humanity it takes to continue photographing dead celebrities speaks for itself when it comes to the aggressive nature of the paparazzi.
It wasn’t even Chappell Roan’s security team
The internet seems to want to hate on any woman because Chappell Roan was hardly involved in the incident with Ada Law. It was revealed that the “aggressive” security guard wasn’t employed by Chappell Roan, and the singer didn’t even know the incident had happened until social media tore her to shreds for it.
The security guard, Pascal Duvier, backs this up in an Instagram statement, which has been recapped by Global News. He calls the accusations false, but takes full responsibility for the interaction, saying, “My sole interaction with the mother was calm and with good intentions.” His statement continues to clarify that “I was not part of the personal security team of Chappell Roan. The actions I took were not on behalf of Chappell Roan, her personal security team, her management, or any other individuals”.
Besides, Chappell Roan may have a point when it comes to defending herself against the paparazzi. When you look at these incidents, among many others, you begin to see that she’s onto something, and Chappell Roan’s anti-paparazzi behaviour may be what’s keeping her safe.