Olivia Rodrigo Got Real About How Fame Has Affected Her Mental Health

Olivia Rodrigo was undoubtedly one of the most-talked-about celebrities of 2021. Her career took off at lightning speed with the release of “drivers license” in February, and the drama that became entangled with the song’s release only further propelled her into the spotlight. She’s since enjoyed endless red carpets, magazine covers, and award show accolades, but fame isn’t always everything it’s chalked up to be. Olivia Rodrigo's quotes about fame and mental health in Vogue Singapore are so honest.

Rodrigo graced the cover of the magazine’s October issue, and she didn’t hold back when addressing the taxing effect fame has had on her mental health. The singer acknowledged that life in the spotlight has been anything but a cake walk. "I'm taking it one step at a time,” she told the outlet. “It can be really tough on your mental health, though. I'm grateful for the people who like me for me, and keep me separated from all the noise and tabloids or what people are saying about me on social media. That's always been a top priority."

Rodrigo went on to explain that her core values haven’t changed, but fame has simply been one more factor to deal with while navigating life as a teenager. "It's funny how recognition changes everything and also changes nothing in your life," she said. "The problems I was having a year ago are still the problems I'm having now, and things that brought me joy a year ago are still the things that bring me joy now. It's just another aspect of life that you need to learn how to deal with, but it doesn't change who you are as a person."

For Rodrigo, fame has meant finding out that success can be the thing that scares people away. “It was surprising to see who was genuinely supportive of me and who wasn’t,” Rodrigo explained. “Sometimes when you have a lot of success really quickly, it can scare people and make people feel different. That was an interesting thing to learn. I’m figuring it all out.”

This isn’t the first time Rodrigo has addressed mental health. When speaking to Variety in August, she revealed Selena Gomez taught her to put her mental health first. “I met Selena, and she was so kind,” she recalled. “She talked to me a lot about prioritizing mental health, which I think is really important in this industry. All of us were in the limelight very young … that can be taxing on your psyche and can bring about all these weird issues.”

Navigating fame as a teenager is no easy feat, yet, somehow, Rodrigo has handled it all with grace.