Olivia Rodrigo Breaks Silence on Babydoll Dress Controversy: 'That's Been Making Me So Upset'

After facing backlash for her style change for weeks, singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo has broken her silence on the controversy surrounding her babydoll dresses and explained why the rhetoric about her style has upset her.

Rodrigo released a new single, "Drop Dead," on April 17, and she also announced the upcoming release of her third studio album, You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, on June 12. With this flood of news came several appearances, and for most of them, Rodrigo was showing off a brand-new style, prominently featuring babydoll dresses.

The internet was quick to argue that Rodrigo was intentionally dressing in a way that was childlike, with some saying it was going to appeal to sexual predators and some going as far as to say the former Disney Channel star was doing that on purpose. Now, Rodrigo has addressed the criticisms head on, sharing why she thinks this perspective is wrong.

Speaking with Popcast, Rodrigo said, "That's been making me so upset. Not even for me, like I don't care, people can say whatever they want...What's really disturbing is I feel like I actually wear, I have worn, outfits that are like maybe revealing on stage. I've been on stage in like a sparkly bra and little shorts, which is my right. That's fun. 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."

She continued, "It just shows how we really normalize pedophilia in our culture, and also, 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.' Like, it's so weird, and I didn't think that I looked sexy in that at all. I was like, this is so cool, I feel like I look 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 freak to think that I am sexy like a baby,' or some crazy thing like that, I just think it's like losing the plot a little bit. I'm just very protective of younger women and girls, and I just don't ever want them to be fed that rhetoric," Rodrigo added.

Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 2:00 PM.