Chappell Roan Explains Why She Turned Down White House Invite

"Good Luck, Babe!" singer Chappell Roan ruffled a few feathers earlier this year when she refused to perform at the White House for Pride.

According to Roan, there was a deeper reason why she declined the request. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Roan said she declared that she didn't want to be "a monkey for Pride."

If she was to perform, Roan said she would have opted to make a timely political statement instead in protest of the Biden administrations handling of the Israel-Gaza war.

"I had picked out some poems from Palestinian women. I was trying to do it as tastefully as I could because all I wanted to do was yell," she said. "I had to find something that's tasteful and to the point and meaningful, and not make it about me and how I feel. I don't know if I'll ever get that close in direct sight of the president ever in my life. This is my shot."

However, Roan said her publicist talked her out of the plan. She added, "You f–k with the president and the government, your security is not the same, and neither is your family's."

Still she stands by her decision to sit the Pride celebration out. "Thank God I didn't go because they just made a huge statement about trans kids," said Roan about the administration seemingly rolling back support for gender-confirmation surgery.

Roan famously told a Governor Ball audience that she refused to perform at the White House. "We want liberty, freedom and justice for all," she said. "When you do that, that's when I'll come." Instead, she dedicated her son "My Kink Is Karma" to the Biden administration.

However, Roan told Rolling Stone that she is very clearly supporting Harris' presidential bid.

"Right now, it's more important than ever to use your vote, and I will do whatever it takes to protect people's civil rights, especially the LGBTQ+ community," she said. "My ethics and values will always align with that, and that hasn't changed with a different nominee. I feel lucky to be alive during an incredibly historical time period when a woman of color is a presidential nominee."

Read her full Rolling Stone interview.