By Dominic DeGrinney, Staff Writer

Last week the internet’s obsession with Chappell Roan manifested into another insufferable dialogue perpetuated by bot comments, misinformation and general hysteria. 

Roan was accused by Brazilian football star Jorginho of sending her bodyguard to intimidate his eleven-year-old stepdaughter and wife, singer Cat Harding, at a hotel in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The two had been there after having watched Roan perform at the festival Lollapalooza Brazil over the weekend. Jorginho alleges that the child walked past smiling at Roan, before returning to her table with her mother, when a security guard came and brought the daughter to tears due to his scolding.

Roan acknowledged the couple on her Instagram story, stating that she did not see a woman or child, that they did not bother her and that the series of events must have been the result of her guard making a wrong assumption. Jorginho and Harding dug in, stating that Roan is responsible for the actions of her team, and that she would be nothing without her fans. 

The catalyst of this whole situation, Roan’s security guard Pascal Duvier, spoke out on Instagram taking accountability for the incident. He stated that he had made a judgment call based on events which had heightened security in the days prior. He thought the interaction to be calm with good intentions, and according to Yahoo.com admitted the “outcome of the encounter is regretful.”

This “regretful outcome” has become the most recent pressure release valve for the Roan-hate steam geyser. One of the most common threads among the discontented commenters is that they accuse Roan of assuming a fake identity. These comments accuse her of being a closeted Republican, an industry planet, a fake lesbian, a drag-appropriator or promoting progressive causes for her own gain. For someone who is not particularly passionate about Roan’s public persona or her music, yet is politically informed, that last accusation is perhaps the most amusing. 

This brings us to another infamous public reputation catastrophe in Roan’s history. Her refusal to issue a disingenuous endorsement for the Kamala Harris campaign in 2024 earned her nation-wide scorn from her largely blue audience. 

This was especially controversial with prevalent issues, such as the genocide in Gaza which former vice-president and Democratic candidate Harris cosigned during her time in office with former President Joe Biden. Since Harris had ample opportunity to break with Biden’s platform during her campaign yet she reaffirmed the right that America has given to Israel to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian population. 

It was this departure from the Democratic Party mainstream, despite her stating that she voted for Harris, which signaled the beginning of the most aggressive attacks against Roan’s character which persist to this day. These types  of bot comments state that, of course Roan would do this because she and her boyfriend were homophobic in high school, the type of hand-crafted attacks that dig into her speculated real-life background as Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, a closeted Republican with a wealthy grandfather and an industry plant who went to Grammy school.

Roan certainly grew up with privilege, as any white person does, but to question the basis of her talent on the basis of  her privilege is ridiculous. If Roan must be investigated and cancelled  for being secretly wealthy, then there should be an investigation and cancellation of every celebrity who lied about their wealth.

There is no cure for someone who has felt betrayed as a result of sudden disjuncture from a parasocial attachment to a commodified celebrity. There is no cure for the disappointment that a cherished celebrity is human, and it is preternatural not to err at some points.

It might be true that Roan is a Karen who sent a security guard to go harass a child; or it might also be true that a Karen was confronted by a security guard. Either way it is unlikely that this single event will define the full length of Roan’s character. Her character will be defined by mistakes and lies, but time might vindicate her, as it does for all those who advocate against oppression.