Olivia Rodrigo celebrated the premiere of her concert tour film in high style and her pal Chappell Roan was on hand to make it all about herself.
Oh, calm down. We’re joking. Of course we have thoughts about Chappell’s confrontation with another photographer, but first, let’s make it all about the dresses.
Olivia Rodrigo in Archival Christian Dior by John Galliano
This is a gorgeous gown and it may just be the most sophisticated and chic thing she’s ever worn. The styling is surprisingly low key and there’s almost no jewelry to be found at all, but that works really well here. It’s the kind of dress that can quietly stand on its own without a lot of help. She looks great in it.
Chappell Roan in Harper Collective
The gloves make it look like she has a gross skin condition, but the dress is dramatically pretty and vaguely offputting in a way that really suits her. The color looks amazing with her hair. We just hate those floral embellishments because they look way too much like blisters. We also don’t think boots were the right choice for this dress, but she doesn’t strike us as a sparkly sandal kind of gal. As for that confrontation…
Here’s the thing: we have absolutely no information about the photographer or the interaction that’s being referenced. All we have is video of Chappell confronting someone, mentioning that they were rude to her at a Grammys after party, and demanding an apology. As is typical of this sort of thing, the entertainment press has run with the fandom version of events, which is that a young woman powerfully stood up for herself in the face of an abusive, presumably male paparazzo who stepped out of line with her. That may all be true and accurate, but again, we just don’t know. We know that the interaction referenced (which was not the one she had with a photographer at the VMAS last month) occurred months before, which means Chappell wasn’t shutting down some tense or hurtful situation to protect herself, she was bringing up something from the past and making someone else’s moment about that previous interaction. That’s her right and it doesn’t appear that Olivia had any issue with it, but there’s already a “How very dare you question a young woman standing up to abuse” response that just doesn’t jibe with the facts on the ground.
We’ll reiterate a few things we said the last time she had a confrontation with a red carpet photographer. Those people aren’t “paparazzi” in the colloquial sense. They’re not harassing celebrities as they walk down the street or invading their privacy. They’re invited professional photographers in an extremely tense setting doing their best to get a good enough shot off that they will be paid for their efforts. The stars are on that red carpet specifically to be photographed in the expensive borrowed items they received in order to promote themselves. The people taking their pictures are neither as wealthy nor as powerful as the people they’re photographing and the people most likely to take Chappell’s side on this (her fans) are the people most likely to steal the work of those photographers for their fan accounts and never credit them. We have no doubt that red carpet photographers can be rude and we’ve seen it firsthand many times, but red carpets aren’t private photo shoots. They’re chaotic public events and everyone there is trying to do a job. She has a right to stand up for herself regarding these situations, but publicly confronting people who are just trying to do their jobs – even if they deserve to have their poor behavior called out – just isn’t a smart thing for a rising star to do. If anything, she’s waving a red flag at those very photographers her career relies on, all of whom now have good reason to believe she doesn’t like or respect them. And while her fandom can yasss-queen her until the cows come home, the press and the general public are only hearing reasons to steer clear of her.
[Photo Credit: Dave Starbuck/Future Image/Cover Images]
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