Pop Culture Recap: Early 2026

The end of 2025 and beginning of 2026 have brought about many interesting conversations and pieces of media within popular culture. One that has intrigued me the most is the controversy surrounding Chappell Roan's behavior with her fans. This conversation has been going on for over a year now, but it came to a head recently when an incident took place with a young girl. A security guard turned the child away, causing her to cry. The incident sparked discussions online of whether Roan simply hates her fans, or if there's more nuance to it than that. The discussion frustrates me, personally, because it is yet another example of a female celebrity receiving backlash simply for being a "mean girl," while male celebrities are allowed to be as mean as they'd like without much criticism. I also thing Roan is an artist who simply wants to create, and not necessarily receive the fame that comes along with it. Of course, every up-and-coming musician dreams of being famous, but the situation is different once they're actually experiencing it. That said, I understand the arguments against Roan, as well. Her public persona certainly isn't everyone's cup of tea, and she was always bound to rub some people the wrong way. She's brusque and she speaks her mind, and many people prefer celebrities to have more polished personas, for understandable reasons. I had a discussion with my classmate, Annie (in the podcast episode below), about the topic. She and I have very different perspectives on the issue, so the conversation was very fruitful.

Another controversy within recent popular culture is Timothee Chalamet's comments about ballet and opera being art forms that "nobody cares about." This ruffled feathers for obvious reasons. While Chalamet was trying to make a point about how cinema, much like ballet and opera, needs to be kept alive and avoid becoming a dying art form, the way that he phrased it sounded disparaging to those arts. These art forms existed centuries before cinema, and although they may not be as popular as they were in years past, they are still adored by many. Ultimately, I think Chalamet's comment was simply ill-thought out, but the backlash surrounding it makes perfect sense.

The discussion I had with my classmate is linked below. We each go more in-depth on our thoughts on these recent cultural events, and we talk through our disagreements on the topics in question.