American singer Halsey has absolutely slammed The Hollywood Reporter for publishing an opinion piece about Chappell Roan‘s acceptance speech at the Grammys.
In case you missed it, after Chappell won the Grammy for Best New Artist 2025, she used her speech to advocate for artists and criticise labels for their lack of financial support for their artists. For the most part, Chappell received praise for using her platform for good during a moment which was likely the height of her career so far.
However, one individual who did not appreciate her message was music industry executive Jeff Rabhan, who aired his grievances in a piece entitled “Chappell Groan: The Misguided Rhetoric of an Instant Industry Insider”. In it, he stated that although Chappell should be respected for her brave speech, she wasn’t “informed” enough about the industry she resides in to be “the agent of change she aspires to be today”.
“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,” wrote Rabhan.
“If labels are responsible for artists’ wages, health care and overall well-being, where does it end and personal responsibility begin?”
Rabhan went on to claim that Chappell was “misinformed” and “disingenuous” for acting like a smaller independent artist despite breaking the mainstream. In the article — which honestly feels incredibly condescending — Rabhan critiques Chappell for complaining and urges her to follow his tips to lead by example.
You can read the entire article HERE.
One person who did not like Rabhan’s scathing article was Halsey, who took to her Instagram Stories to rip Rabhan and The Hollywood Reporter a new one.
“I hope you’re embarrassed of the absolute personal attack that you’ve ran and disguised a critical journalism. This is so far beneath the standard you should uphold as a publication,” she wrote.
“Jeff Rabhan’s ranting, seething tantrum is loaded with assumptions and accusations that generalise the experience of every artist to that of the most successful. Our industry is comprised of thousands of voices, the elite at the very top of the class are not the example of a monolithic experience for all artists.”
Halsey noted that while labels view record deals as investments which eventually lead to a result for the label, the system fails to acknowledge the artist as a human being in need of things like health care.
“If you want to profit off someone else’s art; that artist should have the basic living means to feel safe enough to create that art,” Halsey continued.
“Artists like Chappell who has worked for over a decade is not an ‘industry insider’ and to compare the payoff of her actions to those of an industry titan with the power and financial leverage like Taylor Swift, when Chappell hasn’t even spun the block enough times to see the residuals of her long earned but sudden success, is irresponsible for someone with your experience in the industry.
“Shame on you. Boot licking behaviour.”
You can read the full, powerful statement below.
In some lines in his article, Rabhan has a point. Chappell has grown from an indie artist struggling in her tiny New York apartment to a juggernaut performing at the Grammys. However, this doesn’t mean that her brain has been Severence-wiped from her previous lived experience.
We should be championing people who speak up for those who need it. Or, if we have critiques about the way in which people like Chappell show up, at the very least we should articulate it in a kind, non-condescending way. After all, Chappell is just as much a big dog in the industry as Rabhan now — perhaps even more so.
Halsey’s Instagram Story was a breath of fresh air that I hope Rabhan takes to heart. Queens supporting queens, we love to see it.
