Pop star of the moment Chappell Roan has claimed that she recently rejected an invite to perform as part of the White House’s Pride celebrations.
The Red Wine Supernova singer was one of the performers at New York City’s Governors Ball festival on Sunday (9 June), during which she emerged dressed as the Statue of Liberty in a spiked crown, covered head-to-toe in green paint.
When it came to performing her song My Kink Is Karma, she took the opportunity to issue her reply to the invitation.
“As a response to the White House who asked me to perform at Pride: we want liberty, justice and freedom for all,” she shared. “When you do that, that’s when I’ll come.”
Elsewhere in her set, the Good Luck, Babe! singer recited a portion of the famous sonnet The New Colossus by poet and activist Emma Lazarus, which is engraved on the pedestal of the iconic New York City statue.
“I am in drag of the biggest queen of all. But in case you had forgotten what’s etched on my pretty little toes, ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free’,” the singer said.
“That means freedom in trans rights, that means freedom in women’s rights. And it especially means freedom for all people and oppressed,” she continued, holding back tears.
“It especially means freedom for all oppressed people in occupied territories.”
The American singer, who recently supported Olivia Rodrigo on her Guts world tour, had a religious upbringing in Missouri, before coming out as queer later in life.
“I grew up thinking being gay was bad and a sin,” she told The Guardian. “I went to the gay club once and it was so impactful, like magic. It was the opposite of everything I was taught.”
Chappell – whose legal name is Kayleigh Rose Amstutz – has previously described her musical persona as a “larger-than-life, drag queen version of myself”.