Chappell Roan Claps Back at Music Exec Who Blasted Her for Grammys Speech: 'Let's Talk'

Chappell Roan is not staying silent when it comes to her being called out by a former music executive in a scathing guest column for The Hollywood Reporter.

In a post to her Instagram Stories, Roan responded to the exec for calling her "wildly uninformed" when it came to her Grammys speech advocating for musicians getting healthcare and livable wages. Part of former music exec Jeff Rabhan's criticism was that the "Pink Pony Club" was all talk, no action, and she shared that she donated $25,000 to "struggling dropped artists."

"Wanna match me $25k to donate to struggling dropped artists?" she questioned Rabhan, who currently serves as the Executive Director of Los Angeles Academy for Artists & Music Production.

Roan then gave the information to her publicist for Rabhan to reach out to her.

"Let's talk," she ended the post.

The 26-year-old singer was not done there and further called out Rabhan in a separate Instagram Stories post.

"Will keep everyone updated on the much awaited @jeffrabhan response!! And I will show receipts of the donations <3. Mr. Rabhan I love how in the article you said 'put your money where your mouth it.' Genius!!! Let's link and build together and see if you can do the same," she added.

In the following posts, Roan then shared several artists that she thinks deserve a bigger platform, including Hemlocke Springs and Baby Storme.

Rabhan served as a guest columnist for The Hollywood Reporter after the 2025 Grammy Awards aired on Feb. 2 and criticized Roan.

"Roan gets respect and true appreciation for her artistry and gumption but is far too green and too uninformed to be the agent of change she aspires to be today," he writes.

"She may evolve quickly, perhaps build a confab of power-wielding playmakers or even pass the torch to another leader-to-be, but 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. If labels are responsible for artists' wages, health care and overall well-being, where does it end and personal responsibility begin?" Rabhan added.

The executive then called out Roan for not putting her money where her mouth is when it comes to helping struggling artists.

"Roan's call for record labels to pay artists a livable wage and provide health care was noble — but also wildly misinformed. Her rise to stardom, fueled by viral moments, major label backing and an industry desperate for the next alternative pop starlet, proves she's no longer a struggling artist," he said. "She should do something about it — rather than just talk at it. Change is waiting to be championed, not just announced."

He also called out Roan's lack of the fundamental economic business structures that are in place to keep labels alive.

"Demanding that labels pay artists like salaried employees ignores the fundamental economic structure of the business. No one is forcing artists to sign deals. For the one-millionth time — if they don't like the terms, they can stay independent, own their masters and take the financial risk themselves," Rabhan shared.

"I'll break the news: You are no longer a revolutionary fighting the power — the oldest music cliché in history — but you are positioned to do great things for artists and writers nonetheless. See? There's still room for puppy dogs and ice cream in this story," he continued.

Roan won the award for Best New Artist at the 2025 Grammy Awards and when she went up on stage to accept the award, she gave an impassioned speech about the mistreatment of artists in the music industry.

"I told myself that if I ever won a Grammy and got to stand up here before 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 health care, especially developing artists,' she said.

Roan revealed that she had been "dehumanized" by the record system and insisted that labels provide the basic essentials for their artists.

"Record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a livable wage and health insurance and protection," she said.

Tags

Chappell Roan, Music