Olivia Rodrigo has denounced the “really disturbing” chatter surrounding the babydoll dress she wore at a recent performance, saying many of those who have critiqued the look are missing the point.

Rodrigo caused a stir online earlier this month after wearing a Génération78 babydoll dress paired with knee-high black boots during her concert at Teatre Grec in Barcelona, Spain, for Spotify’s Billions Club Live series. At certain points during the performance, the three-time Grammy winner’s lace bloomers were visible from beneath the hem of her skirt.

The ensemble drew a flurry of responses online, many of them negative, with some describing her look as “infantilizing” and that of a “sexualized child.”

“a grown woman wearing children’s clothes … she keeps giving me the ick,” one person wrote.

Appearing on The New York Times’ Popcast this week, however, Rodrigo said she was caught off-guard by the criticism, noting that she’s embraced far more revealing looks in the past.

“What’s really disturbing is I feel like I actually have worn outfits that are maybe revealing on-stage,” she explained. “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.”

She went on to note: “I just think it really 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, ‘Don’t wear that because then a man is going to sexualize your body and it’s your fault.’ It’s so weird.”

Though it was Rodrigo’s Billions Club Live outfit that sparked the most controversy, she’s worn babydoll dresses on more than one occasion, most notably on the cover of “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love,” her upcoming third album.

In her Popcast chat, the singer said the look was intended as an homage to some of her musical idols, including Hole singer-songwriter Courtney Love and Kathleen Hanna of the bands Bikini Kill and Le Tigre.

“I didn’t think that I looked sexy in that at all,” she said. “I just think if we start dressing in a way that’s like, ‘Oh, I don’t want some fucking freak to think that I’m sexy like a baby,’ or some crazy thing like that, I think it’s losing the plot a little bit. I’m just very protective of younger women and girls, and I don’t ever want them to be fed that rhetoric.”

Rodrigo’s Popcast appearance comes just weeks before the release of “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love,” due out June 12. The album’s first two singles, “Drop Dead” and “The Cure,” were co-written with Rodrigo’s longtime collaborator, musician Dan Nigro, and have drawn praise from critics and fans alike.

By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.