MTV’s 40th annual Video Music Awards last night truly had everything: Megan Thee Stallion hosting in a Vash the Stampede dress, Lenny Kravitz’s first VMAs performance in 25 years — and, in the evening’s most memorable moment, Chappell Roan telling a paparazzo to “shut the fuck up.”
The tense exchange happened on the red carpet as the ascendant pop sensation posed for photographers in understated earth tones complementing the medieval knight regalia she’d perform in later that night. As Roan adjusted her dress, however, a photographer was heard on video saying “shut the fuck up,” which appeared to set Roan off.
“You shut the fuck up,” Roan told the photographer, pointing at him warningly. “Don’t. Not me, bitch,” she added after a pause.
The exchange was puzzling to some viewers at home, who were unable to hear the full exchange between Roan and the photographer. But video from a different angle, obtained by British outlet Metro, paints a clearer picture. In it, the photographer is heard saying “I’m not going to shut the fuck up, she missed her spot” — apparently saying that Roan had missed her mark for photographs. That remark appears to have prompted Roan to swivel around and admonish the photographer, who began another response with “Your publicist” before Roan cut them off once more.
TikTok content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Roan has been increasingly open about needing to set boundaries between herself and the general public, lamenting the behavior of some “abusive” and “weird” fans and revealing this week that she has been dealing with at least one stalker.
“This is quite overwhelming and quite scary,” Roan told Entertainment Tonight in a VMAs interview after the red carpet incident. “I think for someone who gets a lot of anxiety around people yelling at you, the carpet is horrifying, and I yelled back. I yelled back! You don’t get to yell at me like that.” We hope Roan’s win for Best New Artist took some of the edge off.
Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for Them’s weekly newsletter here.
