Charli XCX has dismissed claims that her fans have been using meet and greets to take advantage of her for “online clout” by getting her to sign increasingly odd items.
It started in September when one fan posted a photo of a bottle of poppers that Charli signed at a meet and greet, an encounter the pop star later called “iconic” after the picture went viral. Since then, Charli has been asked to sign progressively stranger items including the ashes of a fan’s dead mother, and most recently, a douche.
People began calling out the meme as exploitative: “Not cool,” one Twitter user posted under the picture of the signed douche. “Imagine being this disgusting and finding this funny,” another wrote. But Charli has jumped to the defense of the opportunistic individuals, condemning the damaging nature of what she calls “fake wokeness”.
“These articles that have been popping up about my meet and greets suggesting that fans are taking advantage/being abusive/using me for ‘online clout’ because of certain items that have been brought along to meet and greets are just so ridiculous and pretentious,” she said in a series of Notes app screenshots on Twitter.
“It’s all wrapped up in this brand of ‘2019 fake wokeness’ that I cannot stand: it does more harm than good and just encourages people to attack and harass one another online,” she added. “Hear it from me first: I do not think my fans have been abusive towards me at meet and greets: please stop saying they have been.”
Read Charli’s full statement below: