Chappell Roan is facing some backlash from fans after posting on Instagram about her rehearsing for her highly anticipated performance at the MTV Video Music Awards on Tuesday after she abruptly canceled scheduled performances in Amsterdam and Paris.
The 26-year-old singer posted a photo of herself on Instagram Stories, wearing a black hat and an outfit that matched her signature dramatic makeup look. She also held two gold batons.
“I’m in rehearsal for the @vmas guys,” she wrote alongside a recording of Bhad Bhabie’s “Hi B*ch.”
Some of her fans were outraged by the post, as they believed she had canceled her scheduled September 3 and 4 performances at the last minute to rehearse for the VMAs on September 11. The VMA performance would have marked her first time performing at the awards show, and she was also nominated in four major VMAs categories this year: Best New Artist, Trending Video (for “Hot To Go”), MTV Push Performance of the Year (for “Red Wine Supernova”), and Song of the Summer (for “Good Luck, Babe!”).
Previously, Roan said the cancellation of her shows was due to “scheduling conflicts.”
“Due to scheduling conflicts, I have had to make the extremely difficult decision to cancel my shows in Paris and Amsterdam,” she wrote on X. “I have rescheduled my show in Berlin for September 23rd. I am so sorry and so disappointed 🙁 I promise to be back. I am heartbroken. [broken heart emoji] Thank you for understanding.”
One X user wrote on Tuesday, “Chappell, I love you but this is a BAD look when you just said ‘scheduling conflict’ a few days ago.
chappell i love you but this is a BAD look when a few days ago you just said “scheduling conflict” photo.twitter.com/DksPaLR626
— kit⸆⸉ | CHAPPELL ROAN September 15 🤠 (@romanticelegies) September 3, 2024
Several fans took to her Instagram comments section to express their outrage as some had booked hotels and accommodations to attend her now-cancelled shows.
“Thanks for clarifying your VMA workout… I’m in Paris having a great time,” one comment on her post, which was accompanied by a series of selfies, read.
“I find it shameful that you think you can disrespect the fans who pay rent and travel to come to your show just because you like to sing at the VMAs? Do better!” another comment read.
Most of the comments accused her of not caring about her fans.
“You need a professional PR team. What a mess,” one commenter wrote. “And you keep posting to smooth it over. Leaves a bad taste in your mouth as a fan. “she doesn’t owe you anything”. right and now she’s lost the OG fans to her fame and fortune. they don’t owe HER anything. She made the decision, act accordingly.”
This isn’t the first time Roan has appeared to clash with fans. She made headlines when she said she needed to “set boundaries” as she rose to fame with major hits like “Pink Pony Club” and “Good Luck, Babe!”
“For the past 10 years I have been relentlessly building my project and it’s time for me to draw the line and set boundaries,” she wrote in an Instagram post on August 23. “I feel more loved than I have ever felt in my life. I feel the most insecure I have ever felt in my life.”
“When I’m on stage, when I’m performing, when I’m in drag, when I’m at a corporate event, when I’m doing press… I’m working. In any other context, I’m not in work mode. I’m off duty,” she continued. “I don’t subscribe to the notion that I owe a reciprocal exchange of energy, time, or attention to people I don’t know, don’t trust, or who intimidate me — just because they express admiration. Women don’t owe you a reason why they don’t want to be touched or talked to. I’m specifically talking about predatory behavior (disguised as ‘super-fan’ behavior) that has become normalized because of the way famous women have been treated in the past. Please don’t assume you know a lot about someone’s life, personality, and boundaries just because you’re familiar with them or their work online.”
Chappell Roan Card, MTV Video Music Awards