ICYMI, Chappell Roan snatched up her first Moon Person at the 2024 MTV VMAs on Sept. 11. After snatching up the coveted title of Best New Artist, Roan made a heartwarming speech where she dedicated her win to Midwestern queer kids and left everyone in tears. Aside from her iconic performance, the singer also made headlines during the VMAs pre-show when she clapped back at a photographer and told them to STFU.
If there’s one thing Roan knows how to do, it’s draw attention, which she did once more at the VMAs pre-show when she admitted to a reporter she’d dedicate her Best New Artist win to her ex. I mean, this woman hasn’t been shy in opening up about her past relationships. In her viral track “Good Luck, Babe!,” Roan seemingly speaks directly to one of her partners from the past. She told Rolling Stone in April 2024 that the song is all “about wishing good luck to someone who is denying fate” and that she wrote the track in “three minutes” after feeling “so much anger” and “upset.”
Roan has addressed her ex (or exes?) numerous times since her meteoric rise to stardom this year, so it’s time to break down every moment she’s shouted out a former partner while in the public eye.
Roan opened up about her queer identity in March 2023.
In a March 2023 interview with Teen Vogue, Roan opened up about her “queer awakening” that occurred after she moved to Los Angeles in 2018. By seventh grade, she contemplated why she hadn’t dated any boys, and thought “Maybe I like girls.” Roan admitted that she had the thought of her liking women in the “back of my head for all of high school” and she “didn’t know how to deal with that part of myself except to make fun of it.”
After making the move to L.A. and visiting The Abbey, a gay bar in West Hollywood, Roan was inspired to write her track “Pink Pony Club.” In that same interview, Roan said that dating men is “just literally not fun,” adding “It’s not fun. It’s not hot. It’s not interesting. It’s boring.”
Roan called out her ex at Coachella in April 2024.
One of Roan’s first few viral moments occurred during her April 2024 Coachella set. I’m sure you’ve seen the video of her belting out the bridge to “Good Luck, Babe!,” but that wasn’t the only jaw-dropping moment she had at the music festival.
Ahead of her performance of “My Kink is Karma,” Roan took it upon her to personally dedicate the track to her ex, “because b*tch I know you’re watching!” She went on to seemingly reference the title of her track, stating, “And all those horrible things happening to you are karma. It’s me.” This was one of the first times Roan’s publicly acknowledged her ex, but it certainly wouldn’t be the last.
Roan opened up about the complexity of queer relationships in May 2024.
During a May 2024 performance, the “Red Wine Supernova” singer got candid about the complexity of LGBTQ+ relationships. She played the piano before she sang her track “Kaleidoscope,” and admitted, “It’s hard to explain when sometimes queer relationships are so difficult, they’re so complicated sometimes.”
Roan said that sometimes “you fall in love with your friends, and [they’re] a girl,” explaining that the underlying meaning of the track was about “fall[ing] in love with your friends, and sometimes it doesn’t work out.” She rounded out the speech with a heartfelt yet concise metaphor comparing love to a physical kaleidoscope that goes through “change.”
“Love changes, it’s a kaleidoscope with all those tiny little pieces in there,” Roan said. “If you turn it, it looks completely different, but it’s really all the same, and that’s what love is to me I guess. You go from friendship love to romantic love to whatever love you want I guess.”
Roan told her ex and their fiancée to “break up” at Lollapalooza in August 2024.
Drawing in one of the largest Lollapalooza crowds ever in August 2024, Roan took the opportunity to send a message to her ex’s fiancée like a true diva does. Once again, she broke into a mini monologue before performing “My Kink is Karma,” dedicating the song to her former partner and addressing rumors she heard that they were “bragging that they dated me at the bar in my hometown.”
Instead of using the moment to speak to her ex, Roan called out her exes current partner, stating, “This is a message for your fiancée: You should break up!” Her words sent the crowd into a frenzy, and the moment (rightfully) went viral online.
Roan admitted she met someone new in September 2024.
Roan has been open about her struggles adjusting to her newfound fame, but she revealed how they affected her dating life in a September 2024 feature with Rolling Stone. She candidly revealed she’d “met this girl I really like, but [I] can’t commit because I feel like no one understands me.” Roan noted the pressures of the music industry as a reason this mystery woman will “never get [her],” but admitted she didn’t “want to date another artist because they’re f*cking nuts.”
Roan said that despite her new love interest working “completely outside the industry,” they’ve been incredibly understanding toward her recent blow-up as an artist. “She’s so awesome and secure in herself and [has told me] ‘No pressure, we can just be friends if you want,” she said. “I’m just running around like a chicken with my head cut off.”
Roan said she’d dedicate her VMA win to her ex in September 2024.
I’ve already briefly touched on this instance, but during the 2024 MTV VMAs pre-show, Roan claimed she’d dedicate her win to her ex, which left the interviwer shocked. “You got me here,” she said before adding, “I’m really trying to be quiet, it’s so hard!”
However, when Roan finally was awarded the title for Best New Artist, she didn’t waste time giving a “thank you” to her ex. Instead, she took the moment to dedicate the honor to “ all the drag artists that inspire me” and “all the queer, trans people who inspire pop.”
It’s undoubtedly entertaining watching Roan poke fun at failed relationships from her past, because honestly, we’ve all been there. However, it was even more beautiful to watch her pay tribute to the LGBTQ+ community on such a massive platform.