Dora Jar found out she had gone viral this week through a post online pitying her.
The 28-year-old artist and songwriter had spent the day in rehearsals preparing for her upcoming stint as the opening act on Gracie Abrams’s European leg of her The Secret of Us tour, which she and Abrams had just announced with complementing social media posts.
During a break she opened Twitter and saw a whole lot of drama, starring herself, was erupting. A self-described “fan” of Abrams’ had started a Change.org petition (yes, really) to replace Jar as the opener, claiming she wasn’t popular enough and that her songs were “too slow” (yes, really, again).
The tweeter, Jar recalls, shared a copy of the petition along with a sentiment of “poor Dora.” She dissolves into giggles recalling the moment.
“Don’t feel bad for me,” she tells me, and by proxy, the world. “I’m opening for Gracie Abrams, and also, this is funny.”
Some artists (and many average humans, let’s be real) would be crushed by such a blatant rejection of an exciting opportunity so publicly. But Jar genuinely seems to be unbothered, laughing it off and shrugging her shoulders. The internet is going to internet, and the love and support that poured in for her immediately after from everyone from Maggie Rogers to Abrams herself turned a weird moment into something sweet.
“I feel so much love,” she says. “Seeing all this support that kind of backfired off of the negativity was this really funny paradox, and I felt kind of delighted by it. It made me even more fired up for the tour. It’s fun when people don’t know what to expect and you can give anything.”
It’s clear more people need to be introduced to Dora Jar, so I chatted with her about her career (she opened for Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever tour in 2022 and released her first album in September), how middle school prepared her for this moment, and why she’s fine with her career being a slow burn.
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