When Jewel was just 21, her hair began turning gray because of stress from her first stalker.
In a TikTok video, she shared how the ordeal started with fire bombs at her house and death threats, making her step back from her career. She explained, “I get to speak as an older stateswoman, so I’ll give you an example. This person was leaving fire bombs outside my house. I was getting death threats saying I would be shot from the stage. I’ve had hundreds of stalkers in my career, and it’s not okay. It made me step back from my own career.” The trauma from her childhood made these experiences even harder to handle, so she learned to set boundaries, telling fans to stay six feet away.
Roan, 26, echoed similar sentiments on Instagram, setting boundaries between her public and private life. She stated, “I want to be an artist for a very very long time. I’ve been in too many nonconsensual physical and social interactions and I just need to lay it out and remind you, women don’t owe you shit,” adding that she loves her career but won’t tolerate harassment.
She continued, expressing her desire for normalcy: “I want to love my life, be outside, giggle with my friends, go to the movie theater, feel safe, and do all the things every single person deserves to do. Please stop touching me. Please stop being weird to my family and friends. Please stop assuming things about me. There is always more to the story. I am scared and tired.”
Fans understand how tough this must be.
Roan’s message received some backlash, with people arguing she shouldn’t have become an artist if she didn’t want such interactions. But Jewel noticed a positive change once she communicated her boundaries. She recalled, “I was in Beverly Hills a couple weeks ago and a fan, to this day, put their hand out to show me a safe gesture, only came within six feet of me, and just said, ‘I want to tell you how much I love your music,’” and felt safe.
This experience was very different from her past, where she faced public chases and verbal abuse for not stopping to talk at places like the airport.
Jewel emphasized, “We shouldn’t make people feel unsafe. We shouldn’t feel entitled to touch their bodies. It’s not cool. So Chappell, full support. I’m glad people are talking about it. It’s something that people just typically haven’t talked about. Proud of what you’re doing. And everybody, I hope you all know that everybody is worthy of compassion, even if you’re rich, even if you’re famous.”
