Chappell Roan vs. Kayleigh from Missouri: Personas, Performance, and Political Identities
On March 25, 2025, Alex Cooper sat down with the acclaimed “Midwest Princess” Chappell Roan on the Call Her Daddy podcast hosted on YouTube. Following the interview, discourse spread across TikTok about Chappell Roan’s queer identity and how it intersects with her political involvement. Some users thought Chappell Roan’s comments were distasteful and revealed the potentially performative nature of her activism. Other users claimed that Chappell Roan’s distance from wanting to discuss political matters, especially those related to queer culture, is because of the desire to simply exist as a queer person, and not as a queer person in a politicized world. Chappell Roan said it herself: “Why the f**k are you looking to me for some political answer? You think I have the f**king answer? I’m a pop star."
Chappell Roan, born Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, is a country pop star who hails from Willard, Missouri. Coming from a conservative town, Roan made a huge splash in the music industry by incorporating her lesbian identity into her work. Some of the songs that pushed her into the mainstream were “Femininomenon,” “HOT TO GO,” and “Good Luck, Babe,” which all made waves on TikTok. People couldn’t get enough of her drag-inspired looks at concerts and festivals — the most notable ones being a reference to Divine, at Kentuckiana Pride, and her Statue of Liberty-inspired costume for the Governor’s Ball in New York City in 2024.
Despite coming from a conservative background, Chappell Roan has expressed her focus on living boldly and authentically. Her drag show-like performances have been forums to advocate for the injustices of queer and transgender identities, and her proud and visibly queer stage presence resonates with her overwhelmingly queer audience. In the past, Chappell Roan has been outspoken on a number of issues ranging from opposing harassment from the paparazzi to her February speech at the Grammys, which called out the exploitative practices of the music industry. Chappell Roan further turned down a proposition to perform at the White House in honor of Pride Month as a statement against the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Yet, Chappell Roan’s appearance on the Call Me Daddy podcast was not the first time there’s been some tension between Chappell Roan’s media training, political involvement and awareness. Chappell Roan previously found herself amidst a political controversy when she passionately declared that she would not be endorsing a candidate during the recent presidential election between Former Vice President Kamala Harris and President Donald Trump. In September 2024, Chappell Roan was interviewed with The Guardian, where she expressed how she “[has] so many issues with our government in every way. There are so many things that I would want to change. So I don’t feel pressured to endorse someone. There’s problems on both sides. I encourage people to use your critical thinking skills, use your vote — vote small, vote for what’s going on in your city.”
After mixed responses from the interview, Chappell Roan released two videos on her personal TikTok page, each separately addressing misinterpretations of her statement and explaining the situation even further. She once again urged people to use their “critical thinking skills.” A part of Chappell Roan’s power comes from speaking authentically. However, her lack of media training is causing people to question whether or not she is trying to raise awareness or merely parade her identity around the stage in front of adoring fans.
In a January interview with BCC, Chappell Roan claimed that “musicians are trained to be obedient. Standing up for yourself is portrayed as whining or ingratitude, and rejecting convention comes at a cost.” More recently on Call Her Daddy, Alex Cooper spoke to these feelings, mentioning how Kayleigh — that midwestern idealist girl — doesn’t exist to the public anymore, and now it’s only Chappell: "In this chair, like, you’re Chappell Roan. You're supposed to, in people's minds, have all the answers. Be grateful. Smile. Tell us this is the coolest f**king thing that's ever happened because all of us want to be famous."
So what did Chappell Roan get wrong in her Call Me Daddy podcast episode? In the interview, Chappell Roan expresses her frustrations for being expected to be engaged with queer culture on a historical, political, and academic level. “I have my opinions. I don’t know everything about every topic. I don’t know everything about being gay. I don’t know everything about being a woman. I don’t know everything about f**king fashion or drag or performing. I try to know everything I can but like when I don’t answer correctly or I don’t acknowledge one community it’s like how can I do it all?”
Celebrities are held to a different level of social responsibility because of their social standing; they have the opportunity to create cultural and social change and urge people to unite towards a larger cause. Saying “I don’t know everything” in an age where information is accessible and abundant is not enough.
First, Chappell Roan doesn’t endorse Former Vice President Kamala Harris. Then, in her interview with BCC, she acknowledges and seems to take pride in her lack of media training. Finally, Chappell Roan finds herself in political controversy again. On Call Her Daddy, Chappell speaks on being apolitical despite establishing her career by being politically involved and encouraging her audience to do the same. The Call Her Daddy controversy is the third nail in Chappell Roan’s political coffin.
The question is not whether Chappell Roan (or anyone, for that matter) should be openly advocating for whichever politically contentious issue is most popular at the moment. The question is whether celebrities are responsible for being politically educated. If we (the audience) don’t value political education from those we make famous, then it insinuates that celebrities are above politics and its consequences.
If celebrities aren’t “responsible” for being politically aware, then what are they responsible for? Despite Chappell Roan belonging to a historically marginalized lesbian community, her race still dictates her perceived social, or moral, responsibility. Unfortunately, Chappell Roan falls victim to a common critique against white liberals: that their activism is conditional, self-serving, and that its relevance only matters from the advocate’s viewpoint, not from the communities’. Politics doesn’t exist in a finite vacuum, it’s pervasive and spreads across all sectors of our society. There is no “opting out” of politics and failing to be politically aware is going against your civic duty as a citizen, whether you’re famous or not. This makes Chappell Roan’s statement even more egregious, because it identifies politics as an obligation rather than a right.
Art is inherently political. But artists like Chappell Roan have the option to hide behind their art — to mask themselves and conceal themselves from the world — and thus Chappell’s character escapes political intrigue while the work itself still exists within a political context.
If Chappell Roan is the political persona, then it’s perhaps “Kayleigh from Missouri” claiming she shouldn’t have to be politically correct or educated. There’s a distinct separation between these two identities, and right now the public is seeing that internal conflict becoming external. Alex Cooper recognized that everybody, but especially celebrities, has a right to a private life. But what exactly does that private life consist of? Cooper explained to Chappell how, “You have to find a way to actually know who you are when the lights and the cameras and everything go off, who are you? If you look the same exact and act the same as you do on stage, and there's no separation, and there's nothing that you can keep private for yourself and protect. So that makes sense as you've tried to kind of give yourself basically your private life.”
Chappell went on to talk about the difficulty of navigating quickly-earned stardom as a young adult, and how, in comparison to her other responsibilities, remaining politically educated is not the first priority in her mind. “How can these girls tour, write, perform, interview, sleep, eat and eat and f**king work out!?” Chappell exclaimed on the podcast, exasperation clear in her voice. “How can they do it all and lead a team and be a boss and pay people and be like so f**king so politically educated!? It’s exhausting and it’s also f**king impossible!”
Throughout her Call Me Daddy interview, Chappell Roan expresses similar sentiments to those of white, college-aged liberals: a willingness to be politically aware enough within their own identities, yet begrudgingly educating themselves on the plights of others, or disregarding the endeavor altogether. Chappell Roan is complaining about being in a position that her career trajectory ultimately and intentionally landed her in. Getting famous for being outspoken about relevant political issues means remaining educated as they evolve. Chappell Roan’s complaints of it being “too much” lack substance and are a sign of a greater lack of awareness of the plights in the world — issues that might affect people outside of Chappell Roan’s immediate audience.
Still, if Chappell Roan views her role as simply being an “entertainer” or “pop star,” then these commitments are, in her mind, simply additive and not inherent. Chappell clings to the fact that she is an artist, not a politician or an academic, yet she has now been burdened with the expectations of both. Alex Cooper conceded that Chappell Roan’s art is not the center of the public’s attention anymore — politics are: “...it's important to recognize that your passion for art, the goal is for people to enjoy it because you love it. You want people to connect to it. You want people to experience it, but that obviously comes then with the fame aspect. Fame is the thing people get so frustrated by you saying that. You love your art, that's not what you're saying you don't love. You're saying you don't love the thing that comes with that."
Fame is an institution which relies on the ideas, support, thoughts, and social capital of consumers, and therefore the majority values of a given society will rise to the top. Celebrities are our idols. We worship them and use them as tools for moral judgment, instead of relying on our intrinsic human connection to guide us through conflict. Chappell Roan represents a large portion of the population that is aware of relevant political topics just enough not to be seen as bigoted, but not substantially or substantively enough to be viewed as radical. Ultimately, idols will fall victim to the same systems that put them there.