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Chappell Roan’s past criticisms of Kamala Harris have resurfaced, following a Grammys speech in which she demanded health care for new music artists.In case you missed it, Roan collected the Grammy Award for Best New Artist at the 67th edition of the annual awards show yesterday. She took home the gong within a competitive list of fellow nominees that included Sabrina Carpenter, Doechii, and Raye, among others.
During her acceptance speech, the “Good Luck, Babe!” singer called on record labels to offer their signed artists “a livable wage and health care,” placing particular emphasis on “developing artists.” Within the plea, Roan more broadly called out the industry for “profiting millions of dollars off of artists,” and recalled her own experience being dropped by a label with no work experience under her belt.
“It was devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system and dehumanized,” Roan said. “If my label had prioritized [health care], I could have been provided care for a company I was giving everything to.” The pop star concluded the speech by demanding that labels “treat their artists as valuable employees with a livable wage and health insurance.” Roan’s plea was met with rapturous applause from the audience of the Grammys, but some appear surprised by her thoughts given her previous political commentary.
Before the presidential election last year, Roan made headlines for refusing to endorse either Harris or Donald Trump for president, saying “there’s problems on both sides”, but underlining that she would be voting for Harris. The comments, which came from an interview with The Guardian, received backlash as Roan revealed she had declined an invitation to perform at the White House during Joe Biden’s presidency. The singer cited LGBTQ+ rights and the Israel-Palestine war as key issues of concern, and said that neither party had convinced her these issues would be properly addressed.
Now, those comments are being reappraised in light of Roan’s call for health care for musicians, with some onlookers reminding her that Harris was “a Presidential candidate who had an entire plan to expand healthcare access,” as one X user wrote. In agreement, others said Roan “couldn’t even fully endorse a candidate that would’ve at least protected some of [the] rights” she mentioned in her speech, or otherwise declared that they “don’t want to hear from the ‘there are problems on both sides’ woman.”
In an attempt to tamp down the controversy Roan underlined that she would be voting for Harris but didn’t “feel pressured” to officially endorse her, expressing frustration with the two-party system. She also encouraged people to “vote small” and on the issues of their own towns. The singer — who performed her track “Pink Pony Club” during the Grammys ceremony — wasn’t the only artist to address the political climate in her Grammys acceptance speech.
Host of the ceremony, Trevor Noah, made multiple quips about Trump’s controversial immigration policies, while best Latin pop album winner Shakira dedicated her speech to “my immigrant brothers and sisters in this country.” Meanwhile, in response to Trump’s curtailing of transgender rights, Lady Gaga reminded us that “trans people are not invisible” and that “the queer community deserves to be lifted up.”