At just 22-years-old, Olivia Rodrigo is already breaking records and soaring to new heights. She recently made history as the first Filipino American to headline Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage, securing the majorly sought after closing slot of the entire festival. Last June, she became the youngest solo Glastonbury headliner, second to the trailblazing Billie Eilish.
As her career skyrockets, Rodrigo remains determined to launch her stardom with purpose. Her platform is not only an avenue for young people to proudly sing along to confessional ballads and catchy tunes, but also to engage in meaningful activism. At the same festival in 2022, Rodrigo brought Lily Allen out for a performance of Allen’s hit song “Fuck You,” which she dedicated to the U.S. Supreme Court justices fresh after the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
Her stance on the humanitarian crisis on Gaza
Over the weekend, Rodrigo decided that it was time to speak up for the injustice inflicted upon Palestinians. “Mothers, fathers, and children in Gaza are starving, dehydrated, and being denied basic medical care and humanitarian aid,” she wrote on her Instagram story.
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Having taken two years to publicly comment on the atrocities Palestinians face, it was clear to Rodrigo that she had to be very deliberate in her diction. She was vigilant in ensuring that she would not be misunderstood, carefully clarifying her belief that “there is no child in Israel, Palestine, or anywhere in the world who deserves to suffer through what we’re seeing these children have to endure.”
Since Hamas launched its attack on Israel on October 7 of 2023, the death toll in Palestine has reached beyond 57,000 people. Nearly half of Palestine’s population consists of children below the age of eighteen, many of whom have lost their entire families. About 90 percent of Gazians have been displaced from their homes, and bombed at the site of their displacement. Recently, an airstrike that was targeted at a school where displaced civilians were sheltered killed 15 people.
Public contentions
By posting about the travesty online, Rodrigo situated herself in a deeply divisive matter. Simply calling the devastation in Gaza a war is already contentious, despite the fact that most news outlets opt for that description. UN experts stress the importance of calling it what it is—not a war, not a conflict, but a genocide.
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, explained to a UN committee why it was critical to use a specific vocabulary when referring to the occupation of Palestine. “If you go to a doctor because you have cancer and you are diagnosed with fever, you have a big problem. It’s the same with the people who are being genocided,” she said.
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The reactions on X were mostly positive, with many of her fans praising her for speaking out. While some found her support underwhelming, criticizing her failure to mention Israel as a ‘genocidal perpetrator.’
Rodrigo ended her statement with a link, encouraging her followers to join her in making a donation to UNICEF. “To give up on [Palestinian children] is to give up on our shared humanity,” she said.
What she risks by speaking out
Rodrigo joins a list of celebrities who have made their stances known, most notably half-Palestinian sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid, Rachel Zegler, Susan Sarandon, Melissa Barrera, Pedro Pascal, Mark Ruffalo, Macklemore, and Kid Cudi.
What’s difficult to ignore is how disproportionately women’s careers are affected by their activism compared to their male counterparts. Pedro Pascal did not seem to face any repercussions for his vocal support of Palestine, while Susan Sarandon, an actress with five decades of experience and an Academy Award under her belt, was dropped by the United Talent Agency for doing just that.
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Recently, Rachel Zegler was under fire for her support of Palestine, when the son of a “Snow White” producer, Jonah Platt, blamed her for its failure at the box office. Zegler unflinchingly continued to speak up against the genocide, doubling down in an i-D magazine profile in which she said, “I can really only echo Hannah Einbinder in saying that a platform becomes a responsibility, and that responsibility is ours to use as we please.”
Though the liberties of a musician is different to that of an actor, Rodrigo had to have known what her activism will entail for her career. In a time when anti-zionism is conflated with antisemitism, calling for aid in Palestine is a bold stroke, especially for a young Asian American popstar.
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So much awaits this singer-songwriter phenomenon, and she knows just as we do, the world is undeniably watching.
