After receiving the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, Chappell Roan used the opportunity to call out the lack of healthcare for vulnerable artists. Roan spoke of her own experience of struggling without work and healthcare when she was 16 after being dropped from Atlantic Records.
Ex-music industry executive and current chair of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, Jeff Rabhan, called Roan “uninformed” and “ingenuine” in an op-ed in The Hollywood Reporter.
“Her Grammy speech was a hackneyed and plagiarized script of an artist basking in industry love while broadcasting naïveté and taking aim at the very machine that got her there,” Rabhan wrote.
Rabhan briefly admitted that the system was not perfect before stating, “No one is forcing artists to sign deals.” He went on to explain how advances work in the music industry and that it is the job of the artist to “function as fully formed adults.”
He continued by listing ways a change could be made: “To champion struggling artists, leading by example is the only way. Actions speak louder than viral Grammy moments, and there are real ways to make a difference,” one of which was to “put her money where her mouth is.”
In response to Rabhan’s piece, Roan went online and shared that she had donated $25,000 to Backline, a nonprofit organization that aims to provide mental health and wellness resources to those in the music industry, and asked Rabhan if he “wanted to match her.”
Roan left the door open for Rabhan to work with her on it, tagging the information to connect with her publicist and giving shout-outs to rising artists Hemlocke Springs, Sarah Kinsley, Devon Again, and Baby Storme.
Following Roan’s response, more artists came out in her defense and support. Artists like Halsey, Charli XCX, and Noah Kahan responded by matching her donation, each ready to put money where their mouths are.
Halsey also called out Rabhan for having a tantrum loaded with assumptions and even criticized the publication itself.
“I hope you’re embarrassed by the absolute personal attack you’ve run disguised as critical journalism,” Halsey said.
Artist Kay Hanley also wrote an article in The Hollywood Reporter to give her perspective as someone with extensive experience in the industry.
“Allow me, the 50-something music business executive, to explain: these are companies that contractually obligate music workers to churn out bangers for them exclusively until the worker either outperforms 99 percent of their peers or some nebulous internal corporate metric renders the music worker’s service to the company unnecessary,” Hanley said.
After being called out by both Roan and Halsey, Rabhan posted on X that it was a bad move to “publicly challenge an educator” in terms of finances, asking if she knew how much a teacher made. He further claimed that the article was not a personal attack on Roan, but he signed off his post with “your move.”
Roan responded to the criticism, indicating that her sharing her own story was not intended to be “a crowdfunded Band-Aid but a call to action by the leaders of the industry to step up.”
She stated that she will continue to stand by her beliefs and does not expect fans to donate. Roan also screenshotted and posted an email confirming her donation amount through her Instagram.
“Random dudes are allowed to criticize my Grammy speech, but they best put their money where their mouth is. Otherwise, MOVE out of the way,” she said.
