Music Industry Executive Slams Chappell Roan's Grammy Speech Over Healthcare Comments - Halsey Defends Artist
A heated debate has erupted after former music industry executive Jeff Rabhan criticized Chappell Roan's 2025 Grammy Best New Artist acceptance speech in a Hollywood Reporter guest column.
Rabhan, former A&R executive at Atlantic and Elektra Records, called Roan's speech a "hackneyed and plagiarized script," particularly taking issue with her calls for labels to provide artists with healthcare benefits and living wages.
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Halsey swiftly defended Roan on Instagram, criticizing Rabhan's column as a "ranting, seething tantrum" that oversimplifies artists' experiences. She emphasized that label advances typically only cover basic survival needs, as creating an album prevents artists from maintaining regular employment.
During her acceptance speech, Roan referenced her personal experience of being dropped by Atlantic in 2020, highlighting the challenges artists face without proper benefits: "It was so devastating to feel so committed to my art and to feel so betrayed by the system and to be so dehumanized to not have healthcare."
Halsey further pointed out that Roan's decade-long journey in the industry contradicts Rabhan's characterization of her as an "instant industry insider," and criticized the comparison of Roan's influence to established artists like Taylor Swift.
The controversy has sparked broader discussions about artist welfare and the music industry's responsibility to provide basic benefits to the creators who generate their revenue.
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