Noah Kahan and Charli XCX have matched Chappell Roan’s $25,000 donation pledge to support struggling artists following a controversial op-ed response to her Grammy acceptance speech.
The pledge comes after Roan, who won Best New Artist at this year’s Grammy Awards, used her acceptance speech to address industry concerns. During the ceremony, she called for labels to provide liveable wages and healthcare for developing artists.
Her comments prompted Jeffrey Rabhan, former Chair of NYU’s Clive Davis Institute, to publish an op-ed in The Hollywood Reporter describing her speech as ‘misguided’ and ‘uninformed’. In response, Roan challenged Rabhan to match her $25,000 donation to support struggling artists.
“Wanna match me $25k to donate to struggling, dropped artists?” Roan posted, directing the challenge to Rabhan.
Kahan subsequently announced his support via social media, stating: “I’m inspired by you. Happy to help get the ball rolling. Money where my mouth is!”
Charli XCX followed with her own matching pledge, writing: “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.”
It’s not only huge artists who have joined the call, either. piri has also pledged to donate £2.5k to the cause. “I’m a much smaller artist but I wanna do my part,” she wrote on social media.
During the Grammy ceremony, Roan also spoke in support of trans rights, stating: “It’s brutal right now, but trans people have always existed, and they will forever exist. 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.”
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