Chappell Roan hits back at criticism over Grammys speech

LAHORE  –  Chappell Roan has responded to criticism of a speech she gave calling for artists to receive a living wage while accepting her Grammy for Best New Artist. The Pink Pony Club hitmaker was honoured at the ceremony on Sunday and used the platform to urge music labels to provide more support, including healthcare, to developing musicians. While she received a standing ovation from the audience, music executive Jeff Rabhan branded Chappell “disingenuous” because she’s profiting from the industry she’s calling out, adding she was “wildly misinformed”. Responding on Instagram, the US singer says she’s donated $25,000 (£20,000) to support struggling artists and encouraged Jeff to match her donation. The 26-year-old’s break-out hit Good Luck, Babe! catapulted her to mainstream success last year and she was recognised with a trophy in Los Angeles.

On stage, Chappell said she’d always told herself if she ever won a Grammy and had the chance to address “the most powerful people in music”, she would demand that “labels and the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a livable wage and healthcare”. Chappell, who was first signed when she was 17, shared that she struggled to find a job after being dropped by her label in 2020 and could not afford health insurance. “It was so devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system and so dehumanised,” she said.

She added labels need to treat artists as “valuable employees”, asking them: “We got you, but do you got us?” Despite a round of applause from the room, not everyone agreed with Chappell’s speech including Jeff – the former Chair of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. In a column for The Hollywood Reporter, he said the speech was “noble—but wildly misinformed”, calling her “too uninformed to be the agent of change she aspires to be”. Jeff, who has worked for the Atlantic Records label and with stars including Kelis and Kelly Clarkson, said labels “are businesses, not charities”, getting a share of profits in return for taking a risk on new artists.

While he acknowledged things could improve, he also described Chappell as “disingenuous” for criticising the industry that “elevated” her to mainstream success and then “continuing to profit from that very system”. He added Chappell was “no longer a struggling artist” and that “she should do something about it – rather than just talk at it”.