Emerging pop star Chappell Roan said during a concert on Sunday in New York that she rejected an invitation from the White House to perform at a Pride celebration event.
Roan, who openly identifies as queer, shared the news with the crowd while performing at the 2024 Governors Ball Music Festival in New York City.
“This is a response to the White House, who asked me to perform for Pride,” Roan said. “We want liberty, justice, and freedom for all. When you do that, that’s when I’ll come.”
Roan, who performed while dressed as the Statue of Liberty, later referenced her costume and recited the poem written on the base of the monument. The poem, “The New Colossus,” written by Emma Lazarus, was cast onto a bronze plaque and mounted inside the Statue of Liberty’s lower level in 1903.
“I am in drag of the biggest queen of all,” Roan said. “But in case you have forgotten what’s etched on my pretty little toes, ‘give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to be free.’
“That means freedom in trans rights, that means freedom in women’s rights, and especially means freedom for all people in oppressed,” Roan added, before appearing emotional and taking a moment to collect herself. “…it especially means freedom for all oppressed people in occupied territories.”
Roan’s comments appeared to indirectly criticize President Joe Biden’s handling of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, which has killed more than 36,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Her comments on Sunday also came one day after four Israeli hostages were rescued from the Gaza strip, an operation that resulted in the death of 274 Palestinians, according to the Associated Press. Israel launched the war after Hamas’ terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 Israeli civilians about abducted about 250 more.
Roan, 26, has risen to musical stardom after releasing her debut album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” in September 2023. She is best known for her hit songs, “Good Luck, Babe!,” “HOT TO GO!” and “My Kink Is Karma.”