Brat summer would not have been the same without its Midwest Princess winter. When Chappell Roan released her debut album, The Rise and Fall of Midwest Princess, in September 2023, she was still an underground artist with a small but close following and fans among popular musicians, but not millions outside of the music circles. At that point, she had already toured the States with Vance Joy, Declan Mackenna, and Olivia Rodrigo. But she was not yet the lighting-the-VMAs-stage-on-fire Chappell Roan that she is today. It seems that she is missing those days.

In recent interviews, Chappell Roan has opened up about the hardships of sudden fame. She confesses the tolls that it has had on her mental health, including the anxiety that she might have set the bar too high for herself and never be able to perform to that level again. At the same time, freed from the decade-long hamster wheel of the pre-debut music industry and now trapped inside the meatgrinder of the post-success music industry, Roan’s attitude is only fair. Since The Rise and Fall of Midwest Princess gained traction, her schedule has been packed and she has delivered a historic performance every single time (most were record-breaking). She is now on the social media feeds of millions if not billions of people, and she has suddenly become the deciding factor for some of her politically undecided American fans in the upcoming U.S. presidential elections.

She is having none of that. Roan maintained she would not endorse any candidate until a few days ago, when she posted a statement clarifying what she means by it. In the TikTok video, she says that many interviews take all the nuance out of her statements on the topic, specifically referring to The Guardian citing her stance that “both sides have their problems” when asked about whether she would vote for Donald Trump or Kamala Harris. Such a position can be seen as centrist or avoidant, which many of her Gen Z fans found to be out of character for Roan or just disappointing that she would not be more outspoken about the elections. There is also one key element to Roan’s positionality in this that can be seen as a reason why fans are so excited to hear from her: while she has presented herself as Democratic-party-leaning, her uncle Darin Chappell is a Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives. With the stalking tendencies among Chappell Roan’s fans, that she has suffered greatly from, it would come as no surprise if some took this simple and inconsequential fact about her life to heart. In her TikTok statement, Roan calls for more critical thinking, identifying herself as a part of a generation that strives to do things the right way and for the greater good.

Chappell Roan’s inaction in terms of endorsing a U.S. presidential candidate raises the question of why we expect celebrities to vouch publicly about politicians at all. It is almost as if we would rather let them make the choice for us, simplify an equation we should be interested in solving ourselves. Regrettably, this trend means there are people out there who rely on celebrities incentivizing them to vote at all. It is also worrisome since that would mean some people would generally rather let somebody else decide for them instead of being active participants in their own lives.

Do celebrities think this highly of themselves or is it just some trick of the armies of the candidates? I do not think that matters at all. What is important to take away from Chappell Roan is that an election choice should not be simple and easy. Also in her statement on social media, she urges her audience to continuously question their representatives, both before and after elections. Holding accountable those democratically elected in power is not only a right, it is an obligation of the electorate. Roan is right that this should not be dictated by a person whose art we have found likable, have danced to, or incorporated into our lives somehow. Celebrities should not have the status of judges of fate, no matter what their image is like. Granting them this kind of power is like giving away one’s agency to decide what future one would want to live in. And I would personally not trust a film or music or TV star with my life. Not even Chappell Roan who I would go bankrupt for.