Miley Cyrus showed support for Chappell Roan in a new Harpar’s Bazaar cover story, urging music fans not to give the rising pop star a difficult time as she navigates newfound superstardom. Roan is an outspoken Cyrus fan. The Grammy nominee revealed on “The Comment Section” podcast over the summer that Cyrus was the first concert she ever attended. Roan was in fourth grade at the time.
“I wish people would not give her a hard time,” Cyrus told the publication. “It’s probably really hard coming into this business with phones and Instagram. That wasn’t always a part of my life, and I’m not a part of it now. I don’t even have my Instagram password.”
Roan has earned backlash on social media this year for speaking out against certain fan interactions. She has argued that just because being a pop star is her career does not give fans permission to harass her on the streets or take photos of her without her permission, among other behavior.
“I need you to answer questions, just answer my questions for a second: If you saw a random woman on the street, would you yell at her from your car window?” Roan asked fans in an August video post on TikTok. “Would you harass her in public? Would you go up to a random lady and say, ‘Can I take a photo with you?’ and she says ‘No, what the fuck?’ and then you get mad at this random lady?”
“Would you be offended if she says no to your time because she has her own time?” Roan continued. “Would you stalk her family? Would you follow her around? Would you try to dissect her life and bully her online? This is a lady you don’t know and she doesn’t know you at all. Would you assume that she’s a good person, assume she’s a bad person? Would you assume everything you read online about her is true? I’m a random bitch, you’re a random bitch. Just think about that for a second, OK?”
The singer went on to say that she “[doesn’t] give a fuck if you think it’s selfish of me to say no for a photo or for your time or for a hug. That’s not normal. That’s weird. It’s weird how people think that you know a person just because you see them online and you listen to the art they make. That’s fucking weird! I’m allowed to say no to creepy behavior, OK?”
Roan revealed during the podcast interview that Cyrus invited her to a party over the summer during her meteoric rise as a pop star. It was a surreal moment for Roan.
“Miley invited me to a party, and I was like, ‘You don’t know that you were my first concert when the Jonas Brothers were opening for you,’” Road said. “I was in fourth grade, and when she came out I saw my friends start crying, and then little girls around us started crying, and I was like, ‘I guess I’ve gotta cry.’ I was like, ‘This is so emotional.’ I didn’t understand then why people were crying, but now I get it. I’m like, ‘Oh, because that was the coolest thing.’ It was so spiritual.”
Head over to Harpar Bazaar’s website to read Cyrus’ latest cover story in its entirety.