Olivia Rodrigo addresses babydoll dress criticism | indy100

Photo by Xavi Torrent/Getty Images for Spotify

Olivia Rodrigo has responded to criticism surrounding her wearing recent babydoll dress she during a performance in Spain.

The 'Drop Dead' singer has been sporting a short pink floral dress with puffed sleeves when she performed at Teatre Grec in Barcelona on May 8 for Spotify’s Billions Club Live series.

In a recent appearance on The New York Times’ Popcast, Rodrigo spoke about how the controversy has affected her.

“That’s been making me so upset,” she admitted in a clip from the podcast episode that dropped today.

“Not even for me. People can say whatever they want. What’s really disturbing is I have worn outfits that are maybe revealing on stage. I’ve been on stage in 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 deemed to be childlike was inappropriate," Rodrigo added.

Olivia Rodrigo performs on stage during an exclusive Billions Club Live show to celebrate the partnership between Spotify and FC Barcelona before El Clásico on May 8, 2026 in Barcelona, Spain.Photo by Xavi Torrent/Getty Images for Spotify

The 23-year-old when on to note how this kind of backlash indicates, “how we really normalize pedophilia in our culture. Also it’s just this rhetoric we’re fed as girls since we’re so little, which is, don’t wear that because then a man is going to sexualize your body and it’s your fault. It’s so weird.”

She went on to share how 90s female punk stars had been the inspiration behind the look which she believes didn't look sexy.

“I didn’t think I looked sexy in that at all,” Rodrigo said. “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.”

The pop star concluded: “I’m just very protective of like younger women and girls, and I don’t ever want them to be fed that rhetoric, I guess. You shouldn’t be responsible for some guy sexualising you in a way that was never your intention.”

Rodrigo's third studio album, you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, comes out on June 12.

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