Olivia Rodrigo is responding to online criticism over a babydoll-style dress she wore during a performance in Spain. The singer performed in a small pink, floral-patterned dress with puffed sleeves at Teatre Grec in Barcelona as part of Spotify’s Billions Club Live series. The event took place on May 8, when Rodrigo debuted her single “Drop Dead.”
Across multiple outlets, Rodrigo says the backlash reflects wider cultural attitudes. On The New York Times’ Popcast and in related remarks reported by several publications, she argues that talk linking the outfit to “sexualizing children” is rooted in harmful and sexist expectations about how women and girls should be viewed and who is responsible for sexualization.
Rodrigo also pushes back against suggestions that the outfit is “childlike,” and some commentary notes that she has worn similar dress styles, including a comparable look on cover art for an upcoming album. The coverage centers on her contention that the discourse itself highlights how audiences “normalize pedophilia” and the dynamics of online interpretation.
