In 2024, in the midst of her explosive breakthrough, Chappell Roan released a lengthy statement in which she set clear boundaries for dealing with her newfound fame. When she is on stage, performing, in drag or doing press work, she is on duty. “Under any other circumstances, I am not in work mode,” Roan wrote. “I’m off work.”
The message was aimed at overzealous fans and viewers who feel entitled to their space or attention. “I embrace the success of the project, the love I feel and the gratitude I feel,” she continued. “What I don’t accept are creepy people, touching and persecution.” That same year, Roan hired security guards to deal with a stalker – and even that, as she told Rolling Stone, she found “so lame.”
Since then, Roan has been portrayed by critics as an abrasive, difficult and spoiled pop star. Several stars, including Noah Kahan and Doja Cat, rallied behind her earlier this month after the singer clashed with paparazzi and autograph dealers in Paris. Kahan emphasized that such encounters help distort the perception of an artist – “so that you think someone is being rude to their fans, when in reality you are just being manipulated.” And even though that may sound banal, that’s exactly why Roan’s latest border-drawing affair escalated into a contradictory series of videos and statements. Here’s the whole story.
What happened
Last week, Brazilian professional soccer player Jorginho accused Roan of sending her security guard after his wife Catherine Harding and his 11-year-old stepdaughter – whose father is actor Jude Law – as they were having breakfast in a São Paulo hotel. The stepdaughter walked past Roan’s table to make sure it was really her, smiled and returned to her seat. “She didn’t say anything, didn’t ask for anything,” said Jorginho. According to his statement, “a large security guard” then approached the table in an “extremely aggressive manner” and told his wife not to let their daughter “treat other people disrespectfully or harass them.” The stepdaughter was in tears.
Chappell speaks up
The story spread quickly. Some users online felt vindicated and saw the incident as further proof that Roan was not up to being a pop star. Others insisted it must be a misunderstanding. Roan himself didn’t know what he was talking about at first. “I’m just going to tell my side of the story about what happened today to a mother and a child who interacted with a security guard who is not part of my personal security team,” she said in an Instagram video posted a day after Jorginho’s statement. “I didn’t see a woman or a child – no one approached me, no one bothered me.”
Roan also objected to the part of the statement in which the footballer addressed her directly. “Without your fans you would be nothing,” he told her. “And to the fans: She doesn’t deserve your affection.” Roan clarified: “I don’t hate people who like my music. I don’t hate children.” She also apologized to the girl and her mother. Although she emphasized that she did not instruct the security guard in question to speak to the two, she was sorry “that someone assumed you would do something like that.” She added: “If you felt uncomfortable, that makes me really sad. You don’t deserve that.”
The mother speaks up
The apology didn’t completely put out the fire. Harding released her own statement a few hours after Roan. “I didn’t expect it to escalate like it did,” she said. She noted that the singer had clarified that it was not her personal security guard who approached her table – but explained: “One hundred percent that security guard was not an employee of the hotel… I don’t know if he was part of her personal team, but he was with her. That’s all I know. Did she send him? I don’t know that either.”
Still, Harding left some of the responsibility with Roan. “I think that as a celebrity you have a responsibility to make sure that the people who work for you and act on your behalf do the same,” she said. “Would he do that if he didn’t have her authority to do that? I don’t know. If he did, then that’s obviously a big problem because then he’s representing her in a way that she doesn’t want to be represented.” Harding added that in her opinion, whether Roan sent him or not, the “intimidating” security guard “crossed a line.”
The security guard explains himself
The last person to speak out, almost a week later, was the security guard in question. “I don’t normally comment on rumors online, but the accusations currently circulating are false and constitute slander,” Pascal Duvier said in a statement. “I accept full responsibility for the events that occurred on March 21. And I was at the hotel on behalf of another individual and was not part of Chappell Roan’s personal security team. My actions were not on behalf of Chappell Roan, their personal security team, their management or anyone else.”
Duvier disputed Harding’s account, stating, “My only contact with the mother was calm and well-intentioned, and I regret how the encounter was perceived.” He acted on the basis of information “that we had received from the hotel, events that I had observed in the previous days and the overall increased security situation at our location” – all without reference to Roan.
Duvier previously worked as a security guard for Kim Kardashian. In 2018, he and his security company Protect Security were named in a $6.1 million lawsuit filed by the reality star’s insurance company. American International Group alleged that Duvier and Protect Security “negligently, negligently and/or carelessly” protected Kardashian when she was robbed at gunpoint at the No Address Hotel during Paris Fashion Week in 2016. All parties agreed on a settlement in 2020.
