Chappell Roan says she doesn’t have social media on her phone.

The “Pink Pony Club” and “Hot to Go!” singer shared that the negativity around online comments and posts have led her to avoid social media at times.

“It is very … disheartening sometimes to really go into the comment section,” she said. “So I currently don’t have social media on my phone and I think that I just delete it when it becomes too much and keep it moving, to just keep doing the work, show up. Because at the end of the day, no matter what anyone says about me online or in person, it’s not gonna stop people like Elton [John] and I donating money, donating time, writing about things that matter to us.”

Roan made her comments during a conversation with John that was part of the inaugural Elton John Impact Awards, which honored Roan and other trailblazing LGBTQ+ community members and prominent allies. 

She shared that it’s challenging as an artist to distance oneself from social media since that’s such a big part of building and sustaining a career in the industry.

“It’s really, really hard as an artist right now in this day and age to try to separate social media and your job and being a good person because [of the importance of] numbers and comments,” she said. “So it’s such a difficult world to navigate that personally if I just delete it and keep it moving, I kind of make it out of that hurricane. But that’s hard for a lot of artists because, if you really rely on social media to fuel your momentum, that can be really disheartening and it can feel very hopeless. So I’m in a very privileged position where I can be like, I’m not gonna be on this and I’ll be fine. But not every, everyone is like that.”

John shared a memory about the first time he was introduced to Roan and her music. “When I first heard your music and I first spoke to you, I realized that you’re a huge supporter of the LGBT+ community,” he said. “That made me very, very happy for someone so young and so early on in their career to be so strident and so supportive meant such a great deal because not everybody is. And so you won my heart straight away, not with just your music, but because of your affiliations to your community. I thought it was brilliant.”

Roan responded by saying that John’s recognition of her made her feel validated. “It’s very affirming because sometimes you don’t know exactly if you’re doing the right thing because there’s so much in the world that needs that needs help,” she said. “[It’s] like, OK, I see a person that I look up to who has really trailblazed a path for queer people saying that I am doing something that is actually helping, and I’m like, OK. I am doing good, like I’m not just spinning out here being like, well, hope what I’m doing matters. It does, and that is a very calming, fulfilling feeling.”

Roan and John also talked about why it’s important to spread positivity and how to support the LGBTQ+ community. 

“People deserve to have good lives,” Roan said. “Like you deserve to be free. Every single person deserves to have freedom and to be themselves. It’s just like, why would you fight against that? And the people that are fighting for that, it’s working. It just is drowned out by a lot of the hate. But it is important to stay the course and look at the people in the past who have gone through intense scrutiny and, literally been killed for what they believe in, or for being gay or for being honest. And to kind of carry on that legacy. And remember what people before us, what queer people gave their lives for us to be free. … And to continue on that legacy and honor them.”

She also had some advice for the LGBTQ+ community and their allies: “We all have to like be on the same page and not get bogged down by things going on online. Like we need to stay in reality and have real life interactions in real life community. That is the only thing that is going to get us through is community.”

She gave a nod to Marsha P. Johnson, a transgender woman who was an LGBTQ+ activist who played a key role in the gay and transgender rights movements of the 1960s and ’70s in New York City. Johnson also was a key figure in the Stonewall Inn riots. On July 6, 1992, her body was found in the Hudson River. She was only 46 at the time. Her death was initially ruled a suicide, but many of her friends suspected foul play. In 2012, Johnson’s niece Mariah Lopez successfully lobbied to have the New York City Police Department re-open the case; her death is now listed as “undetermined.”

“[S]he put everything on the line,” Roan said. “She gave her life for this and at the end of the day, if anyone deserves to be completely honored and uplifted, it is her and the trans community and every activist that has come before us to guide us. Our queer ancestors, we need to tap into our queer ancestors and let them guide us to how we do this. They did it. They got us to where we are now and we must like continue and carry that torch.”

The Elton John Impact Awards are presented by iHeartRadio and P&G, in partnership with the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Brandi Carlile’s Looking Out Foundation. The other honorees are Jonathan Bailey, Laverne Cox, Melissa Etheridge, Billie Jean King and Orville Peck. Hosted by Billy Porter and Elvis Duran, the special  launched as a podcast series June 1 on the iHeartRadio app and everywhere podcasts are heard and as an audio special airing across iHeartRadio PRIDE stations. The special features a performance of John’s “Your Song” by Dove Cameron along with candid, personal conversations with Elton John; John’s husband, David Furnish, who is chair of the Elton John AIDS Foundation; and this year’s honorees.