For Chappell Roan, it’s not just about words — it’s action.
On Friday, Feb. 7, the pop star, 26, responded to music executive Jeff Rabhan, who penned a controversial op-ed for The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday, Feb. 5 that criticized her 2025 Grammys speech, where she called for the music industry to offer artists “a livable wage and health care” for artists.
In a series of Instagram Stories, Roan challenged Rabhan — former chair of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and the co-founder and CEO of “edutainment platform” bored-of-ed.com — to match her in a donation to musicians.
“@jeffrabhan wanna match me $25K to donate to struggling dropped artists? My publicist is @biz3publicity. let’s talk,” she captioned the first post, using a screenshot of the op-ed as a backdrop.
In her next post, she told fans that she’d “keep everyone updated on the much awaited” response from Rabhan, noting that she’ll “show receipts of the donations.”
Added Roan: “Mr. Rabhan I love how you said “put your money where your mouth is” Genius !!! Let’s link and build together and see if you can do the same 🔥🔥🔥”
The “Naked in Manhattan” singer then shared a series of Stories featuring artists who “deserve more love and a bigger platform,” including hemlocke springs, Sarah Kinsley, Devon Again and Baby Storme.
After performing “Pink Pony Club” and taking home the gramophone for best new artist at this year’s Grammys on Sunday, Feb. 2, the “Casual” performer used her acceptance speech to advocate for change in the music industry.
“I told myself, if I ever won a Grammy and I got to stand up here in front of the most powerful people in music, I would demand that labels in the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a livable wage and healthcare, especially to developing artists,” said the “Good Luck, Babe!” hitmaker onstage, after also being nominated for six awards including record of the year and album of the year.
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Roan added, “Because I got signed so young, I got signed as a minor, and when I got dropped, I had zero job experience under my belt and like most people, I had a difficult time finding a job in a pandemic and could not afford health insurance.”
The “Kink Is My Karma” artist — who’s been open about her mental health in the past — said it was “devastating to feel so committed to my art” yet “betrayed by the system.”
“If my label would have prioritized artists’ health, I could have been provided care by a company I was giving everything to,” said Roan. “So record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a livable wage and health insurance and protection.”
“Labels, we got you, but do you got us?” she concluded.
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