- Pop Base
- Posts
- Pop Base: Chappell Roan issues a statement, Macklemore cancels Dubai Show, and More!
Pop Base: Chappell Roan issues a statement, Macklemore cancels Dubai Show, and More!
Welcome to Pop Base! As your best source for all things pop culture, check out our curated newsletters to stay up-to-date on your favorite celebs, entertainment news, award show coverage, chart updates, and much more.
Chappell Roan calls out “predatory ‘superfan’ behavior”
Rising star and Femininomenon Chappell Roan took to Instagram to issue a statement, once again, enforcing her boundaries to those who exhibit “predatory behavior” while claiming to be her fan.
“I’ve been in too many non-consensual physical and social interactions and I just need to lay it out and remind you, women don’t owe you shit,” the 26-year-old singer asserted.
“I chose this career path because I love music and art and honoring my inner child. I do not accept harassment of any kind because I chose this path, nor do I deserve it,” she added.
This was a reiteration of the message she tried to convey in a TikTok rant uploaded last August 19, where Chappell aired out her grievances against people who think it is okay to subject her to abuse, harassment, and stalking just because she’s a “little famous.”
“That does not make it okay. That does not make it normal,” she remarked.
The Casual singer views her experience as a reflection of the broader harassment women face from men who feel entitled to their time and presence. "It is not a woman's responsibility to suck it up and take it; it is the harasser's duty to be a decent person [and] leave her alone," she argued.
Chappell also asked fans to distinguish her “work” persona from her personal life by refraining from calling her by her real name, Kayleigh. “There is a part of myself that I save just for my project and all of you. There is a part of myself that is just for me, and I don’t want that taken away from me,” the singer explained.
She captioned her post with a sharp response to the people who might label her as “ungrateful” for expressing such sentiments. “You gotta look inward and ask yourself ‘Wait, why am I so upset by this? Why is a girl expressing her fears and boundaries so infuriating?’”
Macklemore cancels Dubai show, shows support for Sudan
Source: Daniel DeSlover/Sipa USA
Rapper Macklemore canceled his upcoming concert at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, originally scheduled on October 4, as a protest against the United Arab Emirates’s purported role in “funding the RSF militia” perpetrating “the ongoing genocide and humanitarian crisis” in Sudan.
“I know that this will probably jeopardize my future shows in the area, and I truly hate letting my fans down… But until the UAE stops arming and funding the RSF, I will not perform there,” the 41-year-old artist explained.
UAE had repeatedly denied its part in sponsoring the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary force battling Sudan’s army in the ongoing civil war that broke out in April 2023. However, the UN Security Council already compiled a report as early as January containing evidence of the UAE sending weapons to the RSF.
With that, Macklemore utilized his platform to shift the spotlight on the crisis in Sudan, “Over ten million people have been displaced, millions face imminent famine, sexual violence is widespread, and at least 150,000 lives have been lost, including thousands of children,” he revealed.
“Although dismantling systemic oppression might not fully happen during my lifetime, our collective analysis is evolving. That is where it starts. When we realize our individual liberation is Sudanese liberation, is Congolese liberation,” the singer asserted.
“We are being called on at this moment to advocate for the most marginalized around the world… What are we willing to risk in order to uproot the systems that depend on genocide for monetary gain?”
The More You Know
From singing Baby to having a baby! In an Instagram post, Justin and Hayley Bieber welcomed their first child: Jack Blues Bieber. The couple shared the news that they were expecting a kid back in May.
In an interview with The New York Times, Jenna Ortega tells the story of how she had to delete Twitter after seeing inappropriate AI-generated content of her as a child: “Did I like being 14 and making a Twitter account because I was supposed to and seeing dirty edited content of me as a child? No. It’s terrifying. It’s corrupt. It’s wrong.”
Glee star Lea Michele gave birth to a baby girl named Emery Sol Reich.
During the Reading & Leeds Festival, Lana Del Rey’s set was accidentally cut short “due to an error by the [production team].” The singer was supposed to finish her last song with a fireworks display in the background. Sadly, her microphone feedback was muted five minutes earlier than expected. The show’s team then took to IG to issue an apology: “We apologize unreservedly to Lana and her fans.”
Not “very demure, very mindful”! TikTok icon Jools Lebron, the one who popularized the viral catchphrase, expressed her frustrations in a now-deleted post after she had to halt production of merch when a man named Jefferson Bates beat her to filing for trademark: ”I wanted this to do so much for my family and provide for my transition and I just feel like I dropped the ball. Like, I feel like I f---ed up and someone else has it now. I don’t even know what I could’ve done better because I didn’t have the resources.”