Zara Larsson Defends Chappell Roan Against Sexist Critics

‘s love for Chappell Roan keeps growing. In fact, she told The Guardian she could graph out exactly how her affection has been building using a simple mathematical function: “The more people hate her, the more I love her,” she said. Despite this, she added, “I don’t like how she’s being treated at all.”

Roan has entered the crucible of contempt several times since becoming world famous a few years ago. When she released a 2024 statement drawing boundaries between her “work” and “clocked-out” lives, some people saw it as a rebuke of their fandom. Nevertheless, she stood strong. “What I do not accept are creepy people, being touched, and being followed,” she said.

The contempt some people have for Roan, Larsson said, has a cause that’s simple to explain: sexism. “When a woman has boundaries, I think people freak out,” she said. “Men can do violent criminal things and people applaud them, but when a woman says, ‘Stop following me,’ it’s controversial? It’s like, you guys just hate women, actually.”

Roan most recently faced public scrutiny when Brazilian soccer player Jorginho claimed that the artist had asked a security guard to chastise his wife and 11-year-old stepdaughter “in extremely aggressive manner” for the tween having the audacity to walk past Roan and smile at her. The guard, he claimed, chided the mother and daughter saying the mom “shouldn’t allow my daughter to ‘disrespect’ or ‘harass’ other people.” Well, it turned out to be a big misunderstanding.

Roan posted a video saying she’d never even seen the mother or daughter: “like, no one came up to me, no one bothered me.” And, as ridiculous as it is for someone to have to say this, Roan said, “I do not hate people who are fans of my music. I do not hate children. … If you felt uncomfortable, that makes me really sad. You did not deserve that.”

Then the security guard, Pascal Duvier, whom Roan did not employ, spoke up. “I take full responsibility for the interactions on March 21st,” he said. “I was at the hotel on behalf of another individual, and 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.” So all of that was basically for nothing, and the biggest losers in the whole scenario were Roan and the stepdaughter.

Larsson, for her part, told The Guardian she’s ready for megafame. “I kind of thrive on attention in all forms,” the singer, who released a new album, Midnight Sun, last year and spends her spare time updating her Wikipedia photo, said. “When I was younger, I was like: ‘Oh, I can’t wait till I have paparazzi outside my house.’”