Chappell Roan says she'd be 'way bigger' if she was 'OK wearing a muzzle'

Chappell Roan, one of the biggest breakout stars in pop music, has had her fair share of backlash.

After canceling two festival appearances, calling out “creepy behavior” from people who “stalk” her parents’ home and snapping back at a photographer on the MTV VMAs red carpet, the “Good Luck Babe!” singer, 26, was called “unprofessional” and “not built for fame” by fans-turned-trolls.

But Roan is unafraid of being heard.

In a new interview with the BBC, published on Sunday, Roan shared that she refuses to stop standing up for herself – even if it could infringe on her success.

"I've been responding that way to disrespect my whole life − but now there are cameras on me, and I also happen to be a pop star, and those things don't match,” she said. “It's like oil and water."

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Roan is nominated for six Grammy Awards, including best new artist, album of the year and song and record of the year. Yet she tells BBC her success has been stunted by her outspokenness.

"I think, actually, I'd be more successful if I was OK wearing a muzzle," she said.

"If I were to override more of my basic instincts, where my heart is going, 'Stop, stop, stop, you're not OK', I would be bigger. I would be way bigger. … And I would still be on tour right now.”

Roan rejected pressure to extend last year's Midwest Princess tour to prioritize her physical and mental health.

The star has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which she says makes it difficult for her to regulate her emotions and navigate her newfound success.

Ahead of the release of her Grammy-nominated album, "The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess," she updated her fans on her mental health and relationship with fame.

“This job is very difficult for me to process and maintain a healthy life and mindset,” she said in a TikTok video in May 2023. “Everything is very exciting right now and I’m realizing that success actually makes me quite uncomfortable and self-conscious, and I’m not sure why yet.”

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She told the BCC that when she feels unable to perform, she reminds herself there is “not a scarcity of opportunity.”

“So when someone says, 'Do this concert because you'll never get offered that much money ever again,' it's like, who cares?” she added.

But she still craves adoration and says the admiration of strangers is more “addictive” than she expected.

“I understand why I’m so scared to lose this feeling,” she said. “It's so scary to think that one day people will not care about you the same way as they do right now − and I think (that idea) lives in women's brains a lot different than men's."

That doesn’t mean she would do anything differently, she told the BBC, because success and failure are out of her control.

“If I can look back and say, 'I did not crumble under the weight of expectation, and I did not stand for being abused or blackmailed,' at least I stayed true to my heart," she said. "There are always options."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chappell Roan says 'wearing a muzzle' would make her bigger star