Critics Twist Olivia Rodrigo’s Act of Gratitude Into Religious Blasphemy

Pop star Olivia Rodrigo has been embroiled in controversy over a fan-made shirt she wore during a recent concert.

Rodrigo began her career on Disney Channel, acting in shows like Bizaardvark and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. By 2020, she had turned her acting career into a music career, signing with Geffen Records. Her first single, “drivers license,” gained critical acclaim and set her on the path to become one of the most popular new artists in the music industry. Rodrigo has since released two studio albums and won three Grammy Awards.

However, her recent shirt controversy isn’t the only time she has received criticism. The singer has been very vocal about her support of women’s reproductive rights, dedicating a performance of “F*** You” to the U.S. Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, and distributing condoms and Plan B at a concert in Missouri, which has banned abortion. As a result, some conservatives have labeled her “controversial.” Now, a recent performance has also stirred criticism from some of her religious fans.

Why Olivia Rodrigo’s shirt is stirring controversy

Rodrigo was performing in Barcelona, Spain when she received a gift from a fan. While on stage, she was handed a custom-made T-shirt with her face in place of the face of Jesus. The Jesus/Rodrigo figure was encased in a heart underneath the word “Barcelona.” Rodrigo promptly put on the shirt onstage, thanked the fan, and then launched into a performance of her song “favorite crime.”

For many, it seemed like a sweet gesture to react excitedly to a fan-made gift. However, some began to criticize the singer because of the religious element of the shirt. Individuals claimed the shirt was offensive, blasphemous, and sacrilegious. They took the shirt to be “mocking” Jesus or equating Rodrigo with Jesus. Some even claimed they were no longer fans or supporters of the singer and made videos of themselves unfollowing her and removing her songs from their playlists.

The majority of social media users actually defended Rodrigo, though. A few Christians even weighed in on the issue, acknowledging that blasphemy is not acceptable and that the music industry does sometimes mock religion, but that this wasn’t one of those instances. For one, many believe that Rodrigo probably didn’t even notice she was supposed to be Jesus on the shirt as, at first glance, it just looks like her underneath a Barcelona caption.

Secondly, she did it to express her gratitude to a fan and not to be blasphemous. Some also addressed the fundamental question of whether the shirt even constitutes blasphemy in any circumstance. Many just accepted it as a funny shirt, similar to when Sabrina Carpenter wore a shirt that said, “Jesus was a Carpenter.”

Again, disrespecting someone’s religion isn’t acceptable, and it’s perfectly fine if many of Rodrigo’s fans wouldn’t personally wear that shirt. However, there’s no evidence that Rodrigo was intentionally trying to mock or disrespect religion or Jesus, and it’s unfair to accuse her of doing so just because of a small act of gratitude she offered a fan.