Chappell Roan banned from concert after mayor speaks out on security incident that left 11-year-old ‘in tears’
Topics: Chappell Roan, Celebrity, Music, World News
Rhiannon Ingle
Featured Image Credit: Aurore Marechal/Getty Images
Topics: Chappell Roan, Celebrity, Music, World News
Chappell Roan has been banned from performing at the Todo Mundo festival in Rio de Janeiro by the city’s mayor, after reports surfaced that a security incident left an 11-year-old girl 'in tears'.
The situation began when former Chelsea player Jorginho, now at Flamengo, shared on Instagram that his step-daughter Ada was 'extremely shaken and cried a lot' after a security guard spoke 'in an extremely aggressive manner' to her and his wife, Harding, at a hotel in São Paulo.
Harding, who shares Ada with The Holiday actor Jude Law following a brief relationship, had been staying at the same hotel as Roan during Lollapalooza Brazil by 'coincidence'.
Describing the incident as a 'very upsetting situation', Jorginho said: "This morning, my daughter woke up incredibly excited, she even made a sign because she was so happy to see an artist she really admires, or used to admire."
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He said that during breakfast, the 28-year-old 'Pink Pony Club' singer walked past their table. Ada 'got excited' and 'just wanted to make sure it was really her'.
"And the worst part is she didn’t even approach her. She simply walked past the singer’s table, looked to confirm it was her, smiled, and went back to sit with her mum. She didn’t say anything, didn’t ask for anything," he added.
“What happened next was completely disproportionate.
"A large security guard came over to their table while they were still having breakfast and began speaking in an extremely aggressive manner to both my wife and my daughter, saying that she shouldn’t allow my daughter to 'disrespect' or 'harass' other people."
Jorginho said he could not see how it could be 'considered harassment', adding that Ada was left in tears as the guard said he would 'file a complaint' with the hotel.
"My daughter was extremely shaken and cried a lot," he said. "I’ve lived with football, public exposure, and well-known people for many years, and I understand very well what respect and boundaries are.
"What happened there was not that. It was just a child admiring someone."
He called the incident 'sad', especially given that artists 'should understand the importance of fans'.
"At the end of the day, they are the ones who build all of this," he said. "I sincerely hope this serves as a moment of reflection. No one should have to go through this, especially not a child."
He ended with a direct criticism of Roan: "WITHOUT YOUR FANS, YOU WOULD BE NOTHING. AND TO THE FANS, SHE DOES NOT DESERVE YOUR AFFECTION."
Since then, Roan has been banned from performing at the Todo Mundo festival in Rio de Janeiro, with the city’s mayor stepping in.
Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere shared a statement online, saying she will 'never perform' there 'as long as he's in charge'.
He wrote on X over the weekend (21 March): "I mean that as long as I'm in charge of our city - this young lady @ChappellRoan will never perform at Todo Mundo no Rio! I doubt that Shakira @shakira @Shakira_Brasil would do that!
"By the way, @FrelloJorginho, your little one is already the guest of honour from the organisation in May!"
Roan has since taken to Instagram herself to share a video with her nearly eight million followers to explain her side of the story.
"I’m just going to tell my half of the story of what happened today with a mother and child who were involved with a security guard who is not my personal security," she began on her Instagram Stories on Sunday (22 March).
"I didn’t even see, I didn’t even see a woman and a child like … no one came up to me, no one bothered me, like I was just sitting at breakfast in my hotel.
"I think these people were staying at the hotel as well. So, the fact that, like a security guard, who was – I did not ask the security guard to go up and talk to this mother and child, I did not."
She continued: "They did not come up to me. They weren’t doing anything. It’s unfair for security to just assume someone doesn’t have good intentions when they have no reason to believe, because there’s no action even taken."
Roan added: "I do not hate people who are fans of my music. I do not hate children – that is crazy.
"I’m sorry to the mother and child that someone was assuming something, that you would do something, and that … if you felt uncomfortable, that makes me really sad. You did not deserve that."
Roan's publicist told Tyla in a statement: "Chappell was not aware of any interaction between this mother / daughter and a third party security office. She did not see them at breakfast in her hotel, as she said in her video. She did not direct her personal security or anyone on her team to interact with them. Chappell holds her own teams to the highest standards and has zero tolerance for any kind of aggressive behaviour towards her or her fans."
The 34-year-old singer-songwriter, who goes by Cat Cavelli, took to Instagram to address the ordeal after both her husband and Roan's respective posts.
"I didn't realise it would get this crazy," Harding began. "I know that Chappell has responded, saying that it wasn't her security and she didn't do it."
She continued: "100 percent, this security guard was not a security guard of the hotel ... I don't know if he was her personal security guard, but he was with her. That is all I know. Did she send him to do it? Again, I don't know."
"Look, I would like to hope not, but at the same time, I think that you have a responsibility when you are a celebrity to make sure, I guess, that the people who work for you and that act on your behalf are acting on your behalf," the mum went on.
"Would he do that if he didn't have her authority to do so? I don't know. If he does, then, obviously, that's a big problem because then he's representing her in a way that she doesn't want to be represented."
According to Harding's version of events, her family-of-three were all sitting down for breakfast when they saw a woman with long curly red hair walk past.
"Do you think that's Chappell Roan?" she asked her daughter, Ada, who then decided to walk to the nearby garden area to see if the woman was indeed the Grammy Award-winning star.
"She didn't have her phone, she didn't try to take a picture, she didn't try to approach her," Harding outlined. "She literally didn't do anything."
After Ada returned to the breakfast table, telling her mum she wasn't sure if it was really her, the security guard then allegedly approached them to 'berate and scold' them with a 'very aggressive tone'.
"For me, I feel like if she really didn't send him, [the security guard] overstepped a boundary because he is quite an intimidating [man]," Harding said, claiming that the security guard said he was going to file a complaint and that her daughter was 'badly educated'.
Harding said she explained to the security guard that her daughter is comfortable around high-profile people because of her parents’ jobs, and that, as paying hotel guests, they were entitled to move freely around the restaurant.
She also said her daughter’s birthday gift had been tickets to Roan’s set at Lollapalooza Brazil, which she felt was partly 'ruined' as they ended up missing the show.
"If it wasn't her, I hope she learns to maybe not allow the people who work for her to treat people like this," Harding said at the end of the video.