Olivia Rodrigo has hit back at criticism over a babydoll dress she wore on stage in Spain, saying the backlash reveals how society “normalises paedophilia”. The singer faced online scrutiny after performing in a short, puffy floral dress at Barcelona’s Teatre Grec on 8 May, a style she also sports on the cover of her upcoming album.
In an interview with the New York Times’ Popcast, Rodrigo said: “What’s really disturbing is I feel like I have worn outfits that are revealing on stage … and that wasn’t ‘inappropriate’ – but me fully covered up in a dress that people deem to be childlike was inappropriate.” She added: “I think it shows how we really normalize pedophilia in our culture … it’s just this rhetoric that we’re fed as girls … ‘Don’t wear that because then a man is going to sexualize your body and it’s your fault.’”
The 22-year-old pointed out that the babydoll dress is a staple of 90s female punk icons like Kathleen Hanna and Courtney Love. “I didn’t think I looked sexy in that at all,” she said. “I was like, ‘This is so cool.’” Love later posted Instagram stories in support of Rodrigo.
Rodrigo is promoting her third album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, due on 12 June. She said the record explores lighter themes of “joy, love and passion”, a departure from her earlier heartbreak ballads. Last year she headlined Glastonbury and called out the White House for using her music in “racist, hateful propaganda” videos.
