Why did Chappell Roan dress up as the Statue of Liberty? Singer's outfit to Governors Ball explored

Chappell Roan was one of the performing artists in the 2024 Governors Ball, hosted on June 7-9 in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, New York. During her appearance at the Ball on Sunday, June 9, the singer-songwriter appeared on stage dressed as the Statue of Liberty.

Roan had donned a crown headpiece and green body paint, with a similarly colored tube top and skirt. Her hair was dyed green as well. The Casual singer told the crowd that she was dressed as the monument "in drag" because Lady Liberty was "the biggest queen of them all."

The Governors Ball displayed a stunning setlist with over 60 globally renowned artists performing on-stage, including Post Malone, Alex G, Labrinth, Blondshell, The Thing, 21 Savage, and others. Celebrities like Sabrina Carpenter, Rene Rapp, SZA, and Faye Webster also performed at the music festival.

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Chappell Roan also declined a White House invitation to advocate for trans rights

People magazine reported that after describing her costume on the Gov Ball stage, Chappell Roan went on to quote a part of the poem etched on the Statue, saying:

"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free."

Following the quote, Roan explained her opinion of it to her audience in a visibly emotional tone, saying:

"That means freedom in trans rights, that means freedom in women's rights...and it especially means freedom for all oppressed people in occupied territories."

The video of Chappell's speech went viral on social media, with her fans praising her and gushing over her support for the trans community.

Chappell Roan's Gov Ball set also included My Kink is Karma, for which she changed costumes and dressed as a classic, yellow NYC taxi cab. Mid-performance, Roan addressed the White House, saying:

“In response to the White House, who asked me to perform for Pride. We want liberty, justice, and freedom for all. When you do that, that’s when I’ll come.”

It was later revealed that in the 2024 Pride month, Chappell Roan was invited by the White House to perform in the White House Pride Event that was held on the south lawn of the House on June 26, 2023. Surprisingly for many, Roan declined the invitation.

The Femininomenon singer, who is openly queer herself, has always shown support for the trans and the drag community.

In September 2023, speaking to People about her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, Chappell revealed the reason behind her advocating drag performance.

Sharing why the 26-year-old booked drag queens to open for her on her debut headlining tour, Roan said:

"It's just a great way to engage the local queer community to that city. I encourage people to tip the queens, that's redistributing funds within the community there, and also it just gives a platform for the drag queens."

The Red Wine Supernova singer further added:

"Some of these queens have never performed in front of a crowd that big before, and it's just fun."

Roan also revealed that the aesthetic of her album was inspired by drag shows, burlesque dancers, and the 1995 classic Showgirls.

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Chappell Roan reveals the inspiration behind her outfits on The Tonight Show

On June 20, 2024, Chappell Roan appeared as a guest on Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show. After congratulating her on her meteoric success, Fallon complimented Roan's style, saying, "You have a great sense of style." He then asked the singer-songwriter about the inspiration behind her outfits. To this, Chappell responded by saying:

"Well, my stylist Genesis Webb and I pull from drag, we pull from horror movies, we pull from burlesque, we pull from theater. I love looking pretty and scary. Or, like, pretty and tacky. Or just not pretty. I love that too."

Roan went on to say that there weren't a lot of serious thoughts behind her outfits most of the time, adding:

"I love that fans find such deep meanings to things and I'm just like, 'I don't know, I thought I looked hot.' Like, I don't know if it's anything more than that."

Chappell Roan was dressed in a black bird-inspired outfit on the show and changed into a white outfit as she performed Good Luck, Baby live later on.