Chappell Roan and Rio’s Mayor Have Beef. And She Had No Idea Any of It Was Happening.
Chappell Roan is, once again, part of a news story that is stranger than fiction… and it has led to her getting banned from one of Brazil’s biggest music events.
Over the weekend, Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Cavaliere took to social media to say that Roan will never perform at his city’s Todo Mundo no Rio festival while he remains in office. This was after a story about an alleged altercation between one of Roan’s security guards and a young fan — who happens to be the stepdaughter of Brazilian soccer star Jorginho and daughter of actor Jude Law — went viral on social media.
“I mean that as long as I’m in charge of our city, this young lady @ChappellRoan will never perform at Todo Mundo no Rio!” Cavaliere wrote in Portuguese. “I doubt that Shakira would do that! By the way, @FrelloJorginho your little one is already the guest of honor of the organization in May!”
The story began when Jorginho took to Instagram to allege that his 11-year-old daughter had an “upsetting” interaction with Roan in São Paulo. His daughter and his wife, Catherine Harding, were set to see Roan perform at Brazil’s version of the Lollapalooza festival that Saturday night… and happened to spot the singer at their hotel restaurant that morning.
“My daughter, like any child, recognized her, got excited, and just wanted to make sure it was really her,” Jorginho wrote on Instagram Stories. “And the worst part is she didn’t even approach her. She simply walked past the singer’s table, looked to confirm it was her, smiled, and went back to sit with her mum. She didn’t say anything, didn’t ask for anything.”
After Jorginho’s daughter returned to her table, she was allegedly chewed out by a member of Roan’s security. As the soccer player alleged in his post: “A large security guard came over to their table while they were still having breakfast and began speaking in an extremely aggressive manner to both my wife and my daughter, saying that she shouldn’t allow my daughter to ‘disrespect’ or ‘harass’ other people. … He even said he would file a complaint against them with the hotel, while my 11-year-old daughter was sitting there in tears. My daughter was extremely shaken and cried a lot.”
What’s Chappell’s Side of the Story?
In the hours after the initial story went viral, Roan took to social media to share her “half of the story”, saying that she didn’t even see anyone bothering her during breakfast. She also said that the guard in question is not a member of her personal security.
“I did not ask the security guard to go up to talk to this mother and child,” Roan revealed. “They did not come up to me. They weren’t doing anything. It’s unfair for security to just assume someone doesn’t have good intentions. When they have no reason to believe, because there’s no action even taken.”
“I do not hate people who are fans of my music,” Roan concluded. “I do not hate children. That is crazy. I’m sorry to the mother and child that someone was assuming something, that you would do something and that if you felt uncomfortable, that makes me really sad. You did not deserve that.”
This ordeal comes after Roan herself has been vocal against “disrespectful” paparazzi and photographers she has encountered while in the industry. Videos of her confronting photographers at the Grammys and at the premiere for the Olivia Rodrigo: GUTS World Tour movie have gone viral over the years, and she was recently spotted filming paparazzi in Paris after they allegedly harassed her. These instances have been met with a wide swath of responses, with Boy George telling her to “cheer up” and not be so concerned with her personal boundaries. These instances, and the web of celebrity connections surrounding this new interaction, have definitely made things even messier.
(featured image: Raph_PH/Justin Higuchi)
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