Queer Arts & Entertainment, Celesbian Culture, News for Queer Women

Alexandra Shipp Enters Her “Sexy Lesbian Video Vixen” Era, And We’re All Better for It

July 1, 2025 Dan Tracer

In the music video for Reneé Rapp’s new single “Mad,” Alexandra Shipp plays Rapp’s chic, stone-faced girlfriend.

Alexandra Shipp has taken on a wide range of roles in her career, from Storm in X-Men: Apocalypse to memorable turns in tick, tick…BOOM! and Love, Simon. In her latest appearance, as Reneé Rapp’s love interest in the new “Mad” music video, Shipp had a chance to lean into a role that she never saw coming.

“There’s a lot of things that I thought were going to be on my 2025 bingo card. Being a sexy lesbian video vixen was not on it,” Shipp told Variety at the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project Block Party. “I am so honored to be a part of it. And I think that we definitely played off a very hot power couple.”

In the video, the couple’s dynamic is clear from the start. Rapp is persistent and over the top. Shipp is distant and composed, brushing off Rapp’s attempts at reconciliation with the silent treatment. “Hey, you / all of the time / you wasted in your head / we could have been having sex,” Rapp sings, with Shipp barely reacting. As the video unfolds and Rapp’s antics escalate to chandelier-swinging and hotel-room destruction, we see a subtle shift in Shipp. There’s hope for this chaotic, fictional couple yet.

“Reneé is so warm and so loving that it was really fun to work with her,” Shipp said. “I think it’s just really great when wonderful people are so successful as well as talented… Already being a fan of hers and her asking me to do the music video, it felt like a dream come true. Plus, ain’t nobody shooting anything right now, and to be able to collaborate with an artist who’s down to collaborate and have fun, maybe that’s what this is about.”

Shipp, who came out publicly in 2021, has continued to take on roles and projects that reflect her identity, though not always explicitly. Still, her involvement in this video felt personal. When asked if she had a message for queer youth, she didn’t mince her words.

“I will fight for you. I will stand up for you. I will protest for you. I will rally for you. I will vote for you,” she said. “I think that it is important that people come out and say, I not only am a member of the community, but I will fight for my community, tooth and nail, because I think it’s important so to that next generation of little LGBTQ babies — know that I’m on your team, and there are a lot of people who are on your team, and we got you.”

Check out the video below: