After making headlines with her critical acceptance speech at the 2025 Grammys, Chappell Roan is doubling down on helping up-and-coming artists earn a livable wage and affordable healthcare.
In a series of posts to Instagram Stories on Sunday night (Feb. 9), Roan continued the conversation about her speech, and called on music industry’s power players to invest more financial support into their artists. “Sharing my personal experience at the Grammys wasn’t meant to be a crowdfunded bandaid but a call to action to the leaders of the industry to step up, help us make a real change and protect their investments in a sustainable way,” she wrote.
The “Pink Pony Club” singer also continued to indirectly call out former music industry executive Jeff Rabhan, who criticized the singer’s speech in a blistering op-ed for The Hollywood Reporter. Rabhan referred to Roan’s call for change “wildly misinformed” and claimed that the singer was both “too green and too uninformed to be the agent of change she aspires to be today.”
“My mind will not be changed about artists deserving more than what’s standard in the industry,” she wrote. “Random dudes are allowed to criticize my Grammy speech, but they best put their money where their mouth is, otherwise MOVE out the way.”
Roan and Rabhan previously traded public messages, with Roan calling for Rabhan to match her $25,000 donation to funding developing artists. Rabhan, in turn, replied that Roan should “stop dumpster diving” by criticizing his criticism, and instead should “act like the agent of change you say you want to be,” pointing out that the singer’s donation came after his critique.
In her posts, Roan also revealed the charity she was sharing her money with — Backline, a nonprofit that “connects music industry professionals and their families with mental health and wellness resources.” Specifically, Roan pointed to a fundraising initiative from the organization that is “supporting accessibility of health care for artists.”
However, Roan told her fans that she did not expect them to donate to these efforts — instead she pointed out that industry executives should feel compelled to donate to the organization. “Fans, y’all don’t have to donate a damn penny,” she wrote. “This is one of many opportunities for the industry powers to show up for artists. There is much more work to be done.”
For anyone questioning whether or not Roan herself shared such a donation, the “Hot to Go” singer concluded her posts with a screenshot of a confirmation email from Backline confirming her donation of $25,000 to their fundraiser. “Here,” she added.
Among those who shared their support for Roan were Noah Kahan and Charli XCX, both of whom pledged to match the singer’s $25,000 donation before her latest posts, with both artists posting since-expired posts to their Instagram Stories. “I’m inspired by you,” Kahan said of the singer. “Happy to get the ball rolling. Money where my mouth is.”
