What we’re seeing with Chappell and her fans is known as a parasocial relationship.
Dr Veronica Lamarche, a social psychologist and relationships researcher at the University of Essex, describes it as a “one-sided relationship”.
Dr Lamarche tells Newsbeat we often turn to celebrities and “feel like they can help us fulfil our emotional needs” – even more perhaps than our real friends.
“It can become dangerous when we don’t set healthy boundaries in terms of those expectations,” she says.
When a chance comes to cross paths in real life, “you’re imagining that when you meet them, they’re going to be your best friend, they’re going to like you as much as you like them.
“But the reality is this celebrity that you’ve been projecting onto doesn’t have any idea who you are.
“So for them, it can be really destabilising because they feel you’re being too familiar with them.”
Parasocial relationships are “nothing new”, Dr Lamarche says, but social media means we have a “constant sense of interaction”.
“If your favourite celebrity posts on Instagram and you comment on those pictures, it really feels like you’re having a two-sided conversation when at the end of the day it really is still one-sided.
“A lot of fans might be feeling hurt or disappointed by what Chappell Roan has come out to say,” she says.
“It’s natural because this is someone we admire telling us we’re doing something wrong and that feels rejecting and hurtful.
“But also it’s important to be mindful of the healthy boundaries these people are trying to set for themselves.”