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Olivia Rodrigo is just a few days away from debuting her third studio album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, on June 12 and she’s doing a whole lot of interviews and press to prepare, including sitting down with The New York Times’ Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli for the Popcast podcast.
The sprawling interview — seriously, it’s an hour and half long — touches on everything from the making of her new album — it was heavily inspired by Miranda and Steve’s relationship on Sex and the City — the pressure of hitting it big so young, homeschool and the struggle to form meaningful friendships, Taylor Swift, the heartbreaking situation in Gaza, SNL… the list goes on and on.
When asked how she feels about the recent controversy surrounding the baby doll dresses she’s worn recently, Rodrigo doesn’t hold back, saying: “That’s been making me so upset. What’s really disturbing is I feel like I have worn outfits that are revealing onstage — I’ve been onstage in a sparkly bra and little shorts. 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 childlike was inappropriate.
“I just think it just shows how we normalize pedophilia in our culture. It’s just this rhetoric that we’re fed as girls since we’re so little, which is like, don’t wear that because then a man is going to sexualize your body and it’s your fault. I didn’t think that I looked sexy in that at all. I was like, this is so cool. I feel 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 [expletive] freak to think that I’m a sexy like a baby or like something crazy thing like that, I just think it’s losing the plot a little bit. I’m just very protective of younger women and girls and I don’t ever want them to be fed that rhetoric. You shouldn’t be responsible for some guy sexualizing you in a way that was never your intention.”
Elsewhere in the interview, during a discussion about the moral and political components of Rodrigo’s art (and of art and artists in general), the interviewers asked Rodrigo to respond to rumors that she possibly boycotted this year’s Met Gala.
“Did you not attend for moral and political reasons, or is that an over read?” asked one of the interviewers (don’t ask us which one, because we cannot tell them apart).
“Oh God,” says Rodrigo, “I just… I’m not really a fashion girl. Really, I’m not a fashion girl.”
Agree to disagree, Ms. Rodrigo, but go on.
“Gosh,” she demures, “how do I choose my words wisely?…This, my third album. I think that I don’t feel like I need to do things that don’t, like, bring me joy or inspire me or fuel me or feel aligned with my like values or something like that. Like, I, it’s just, it’s not like as fun or exciting anymore.”
Of course, Rodrigo did make an appearance at this year’s Saint Laurent Met Gala after party, but if you’re hoping to see her on the red carpet at next year’s gala, you’ll probably be disappointed.
Olivia Rodrigo at the Saint Laurent 2026 Met Gala after party (Getty Images for Saint Laurent)
Oh well! At least we’re getting new music from the boundry-pushing pop star. That’s worth way more than a red carpet appearance. In fact, we’d happily trade any number of high profile Met Gala appearances for some new music from our favorite artists. Hear that, Rhianna?
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