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Chappell Roan has said that her issues with the US government are behind her unwillingness to endorse a presidential candidate in the 2024 US election.
The “Pink Pony Club” singer is one of the breakthrough pop stars of 2024 and is currently touring the UK, with her final two shows to take place at London’s Brixton Academy tonight (Friday 20 September) and tomorrow.
In recent months, her song “Femininomenon” has been co-opted by Kamala Harris’s campaign, as other celebrities including Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Chris Rock, Ben Stiller and Meryl Streep throw their support behind the Democratic candidate.
Speaking to The Guardian, Roan, 26, said she doesn’t feel pressured to endorse any one candidate.
“I have so many issues with our government in every way,” she said. “There are so many things that I would want to change. So I don’t feel pressured to endorse someone.
“There’s problems on both sides. I encourage people to use your critical thinking skills, use your vote – vote small, vote for what’s going on in your city.”
Asked about the change she wants to see in the US, she responded: “Trans rights. They cannot have cis people making decisions for trans people, period.”
Roan is donating £1 for every UK tour ticket sold to the LGBTQ+ rights charity Kaleidoscope Trust.
In the same interview, she also addressed her experience of early fame, having recently shared a lengthy statement asking fans to respect her boundaries.
“For the past 10 years I’ve been going non-stop to build my project and it’s come to the point that I need to draw lines and set boundaries,” wrote in a post to Instagram on Friday (23 August).
“[I’ve wanted] to be an artist for a very long time. I’ve been in too many nonconsensual physical and social interactions and I just need to lay it out and remind you, women don’t owe you s***t.”
She continued: “I chose this career path because I love music and art and honouring my inner child, I do not accept harassment of any kind because I chose this path, nor do I deserve it.
“When I’m on stage, when I’m performing, when I’m in drag, when I’m at a work event, when I’m doing press... I am at work. Any other circumstance, I am not in work mode. I am clocked out.”
In a five-star review of her Manchester show last weekend, she was praised for the “maximalist undertaking” of the tour that incorporated her “penchant for theatrics and reverence of drag culture”.
“Tonight feels like a snapshot of Roan’s pre-fame psyche before the Grammys and stadium shows that will likely follow,” critic Annabel Nugent wrote.
“Less than a year old, [her debut album] The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess already feels nostalgic, performed here tonight on the smallest stage she’ll probably ever play, on the cusp of it all with everything on the horizon.”
