After delivering a historic acceptance speech during the 2025 Grammy Awards, Chappell Roan was faced with an onslaught of opinions on her speech, both positive and negative. One particularly rude article resulted in Roan donating $25,000 to struggling musicians, then requesting the author of the article to match her donation. In the two days since Roan’s post, both Noah Kahan and Charli XCX have backed the up-and-coming pop star and matched her donation to struggling artists, reports NME.
On Sunday, February 2, Chappell Roan won her first Grammy at this year’s ceremony. While collecting the award for Best New Artist, she called out the music industry and “demanded that labels in the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a liveable wage and health care, especially developing artists.”
Jeffrey Rabhan – longtime music executive and former Chair of NYU’s Clive Davis Institute – responded to her words in The Hollywood Reporter, calling her Grammys speech “misguided” and “uninformed” in a guest column.
Shortly afterwards, Halsey defended Roan against the “personal attack” in the op-ed, taking to her Instagram stories to write that it was “boot licking behavior.” The “Good Luck, Babe!” singer also hit out at Rabhan herself, posting a screenshot of his article in which he claimed the Missouri pop star was “no longer a struggling artist” and should “do something about” the wealth disparity “rather than talk about it.”
“[Rabhan], wanna match me $25k to donate to struggling, dropped artists?” Roan asked. “My publicity is @biz3publicity. Let’s talk.” As of February 9, Rabhan has not replied to Roan.
Now, Stick Season hitmaker Noah Kahan has followed suit. Posting on his Instagram stories on February 9, he came out in support of Roan and matched her donation. “Hey @chappellroan – I’m going to match your 25k to support artists’ access to healthcare,” he wrote.
“I’m inspired by you. Happy to help get the ball rolling.” Having drawn a white arrow pointing to his mouth, he finished off: “Money where my mouth is!” Kahan is a long-time fan of Roan’s and when the pair co-headlined Hinterland Music Festival last year, he joked “I might be headlining but I’m really here for Chappell Roan.”
Noah Kahan backs Chappell Roan against former music exec. Jeff Rabhan and pledges to match her $25,000 donation to aid struggling artists:
“I’m inspired by you. Happy to help get the ball rolling. Money where my mouth is!” pic.twitter.com/p7SN8JshOr
— Pop Base (@PopBase) February 9, 2025
Likewise, Brat singer Charli is set to headline Primavera Sound alongside Roan and Sabrina Carpenter later this year and went on to declare the line-up was the “holy trinity” of pop. She is not only a vocal supporter of the “Pink Pony Club” singer, but was also reportedly one of the first people to reach out to Roan about the pressures of fame.
Inspired by Kahan’s gesture, Charli took to Instagram today as well to back Roan. “hey @chappellroan I am going to match your $25k to support artists’ access to healthcare,” she wrote. “i saw @noahkahanmusic say that he would do the same and so i thought id follow suit. your speech at the grammys was inspiring and thoughtful and from a genuine place of care. happy to help get the ball rolling too. money where my mouth is.”
Following both Chappell Roan’s and Noah Kahan’s $25k donation to struggling artists, Charli XCX has done the same.
“your speech at the grammys was inspiring and thoughtful and from a genuine place of care. happy to help get the ball rolling too. money where my mouth is xx” pic.twitter.com/GPgnxGUCus
— CRN (@ChappellRoanNow) February 9, 2025
In other news, Roan also spoke out in support of trans women at the 2025 Grammys. “It’s brutal right now, but trans people have always existed, and they will forever exist,” she said while on the red carpet. “And they will never, no matter what happens, take trans joy away, and that has to be protected more than anything because I would not be here without trans girls.”
Photo Credit: Boston Lynn Schulz
