Singer Miley Cyrus told Harper's Bazaar that people need to stop giving Chappell Roan a "hard time."
Roan's meteoric rise after her 2023 album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess became a sleeper hit this year has put her in conflict with fans and critics because she's been so open about massive fame coming on so rapidly and changing her life overnight.
Roan has also taken to social media, often via TikTok, to communicate her frustrations with fans who've invaded her space and privacy, at one point saying "I don’t want whatever the f**k you think you’re supposed to be entitled to whenever you see a celebrity. […] I’m allowed to say no to creepy behavior, OK?”
Now Cyrus, who has been famous since Hannah Montana turned her into a household name as a teenager, has weighed in when asked to comment on Roan's rapid rise:
“I wish people would not give her a hard time. It’s probably really hard coming into this business with phones and Instagram. That wasn’t always a part of my life, and I’m not a part of it now."
Then, she noted just how disconnected she's chosen to be from social media and trolling, adding:
"I don’t even have my Instagram password.”
Cyrus' advice resonated with many, who also remarked on parasocial relationships intrusive fans develop with singers like Roan.
Cyrus told the magazine that most of her online activity comes courtesy of her boyfriend, drummer Maxx Morando, sending her internet memes.
Cyrus, whose relationship with, marriage to, and divorce from actor Liam Hemsworth made tabloid headlines for years, has dated Morando for several years now with little to no fanfare. The magazine noted that Cyrus "is keeping her current romance relatively private—a sign that she’s taken some lessons from the past."