Doja Cat is expressing her feelings about her recent controversy with her fans.
As we previously reported, the Paint The Town Red rapper got in hot water after ranting about her fandom calling themselves Doja’s Kittenz. She made it clear at the time she didn’t like her fans calling themselves anything, and even went as far to reply to several people on the app Threads with some pretty harsh comments. The aftermath was even wilder, with her update accounts shutting down in protest of her behavior. She then lost over 180 THOUSAND followers on Instagram.
It was a crazy few weeks, with some fans even selling their tickets to her upcoming The Scarlet Tour — but now the 27-year-old is talking about what happened, and why she did what she did. On Wednesday, she actually took to her Stories to say she felt “free” after the mass-unfollowings:
“Seeing all these people unfollow me makes me feel like I’ve defeated a large beast that’s been holding me down for so long and it feels like I can reconnect with the people who really matter and love me for who I am and not for who I was. I feel free.”
Okily dokily!
Still, in a new interview with Harper’s BAZAAR for their Icons issue, the Get Into It musician actually praised her fans:
“I appreciate when people speak up for someone who is getting bullied or attacked by internet trolls. … Some of the most moving moments for me have been when my fans have stood up for me or for other people. That’s fighting for something real. I really appreciate that because people like to s**t-talk.”
She’s singing a very different tune than she was before! But according to the Juicy rapper, she has her reasons:
“My theory is that if someone has never met me in real life, then, subconsciously, I’m not real to them. So when people become engaged with someone they don’t even know on the internet, they kind of take ownership over that person. They think that person belongs to them in some sense. And when that person changes drastically, there is a shock response that is almost uncontrollable. … I’ve accepted that that’s what happens. So I put my wigs on and take them off. I shave my head or my eyebrows. I have all the freedom in the world.”
These “parasocial relationships” — defined by Cleveland Clinic‘s psychologist Dr. Borland as “one-sided relationships or bonds with people you don’t know” — have become a hot topic in recent years due to the rise of social media:
“Now that we all have an online presence, social media and access to a 24/7 news cycle, we have this information at our fingertips all the time.”
As for Doja — she isn’t a fan of these types of relationships. She told BAZAAR she’d rather just have respect:
“I think I deserve love and respect from the people that I love and respect back — and I guess respect means different things to some people. I put myself out there on social media and TV. I shoot my image out onto these screens. But I don’t really put myself out there in real life. I don’t go to clubs. I stick to creating.”
You can see more of her interview (below):
She makes some great points! But also, as a celebrity, part of the job is putting yourself out there for your fans — they’re the ones that make you successful — in conventional terms, anyway. The question is, where should that line between stardom and personal life be drawn?? What do U think, Perezcious readers? Let us know (below).
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