Olivia Rodrigo responded to recent criticism over her on-stage outfits during an appearance on The New York Times’ Popcast, calling the online discourse “disturbing” and asserting that women “shouldn’t be responsible for some guy sexualizing you in a way that was never your intention.”
“What’s really, like, disturbing is I feel like I have worn outfits that are revealing on stage,” Rodrigo noted. “I’ve been on stage in a sparkly bra, little shorts, which is my right. That’s fun. I felt cool and comfortable in that. And that wasn’t ‘inappropriate,’ but me, fully covered up in a dress that people deem to be, like, childlike was ‘inappropriate.’ And I just it just like shows how we really normalize pedophilia in our culture.”
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She continued: “And also it’s just this rhetoric that we’re fed as girls since we’’e so little, which is, ‘Don’t wear that because then a man is going to sexualize your body and it’s your fault.’ Like it’s so weird. And I didn’t think I looked sexy in that at all. I was like, ‘This is so cool. I feel like I look like Kathleen Hanna or Courtney Love’ … all these people who are my heroes. And I felt cool and comfortable in it. I just think if we start dressing in a way that’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t want some freak to think that I am sexy like a baby,’ or some crazy thing like that… I just, I just think it’s like losing the plot a little bit.”
Ultimately, Rodrigo concluded, “I’m just very protective of like younger women and girls and, I don’t ever want them to be fed that rhetoric, I guess. You shouldn’t be responsible for some guy sexualizing you in a way that was never your intention.”
Rodrigo will drop her new album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, on June 12th. She’ll support the release by embarking on an expansive world tour.
Olivia Rodrigo speaks out on criticism for wearing babydoll dresses during Popcast interview:
“What’s really, like, disturbing is I feel like I have worn outfits that are revealing on stage. Like I’ve been on stage in like a sparkly bra, little shorts, which is my right. That’s… pic.twitter.com/eryPqP5EDZ
— Pop Base (@PopBase) May 27, 2026
