Sabrina Carpenter has joined Chappell Roan, Charli XCX and Noah Kahan in making donations to a healthcare support charity.
The move comes after former NME Cover star Chappell Roan won her first Grammy at this year’s ceremony, and used her acceptance speech for Best New Artist to call out the music industry. In her comments, she “demanded that labels in the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a liveable wage and health care, especially developing artists.”
Now, she has received backing from Charli XCX, Noah Kahan and labelmate Sabrina Carpenter.
This comes as Roan joined forces with the industry non-profit group Backline recently, branding the collaboration as ‘We Got You’. According to new reports from various outlets, the public donation records show that Carpenter matched the money put in by the ‘Pink Pony Club’ singer, giving $25,000 to the cause.
The donation comes in a bid to “support accessibility of health care for artists,” and to “create a safer and more supported industry for artists to thrive.” Backline also confirmed the move by Carpenter in a statement to Billboard.
She joins Charli XCX and Noah Kahan who have each pledged $25,000 to the charity to create better access to healthcare for up-and-coming artists following Roan’s Grammys speech.
“Hey @chappellroan – I’m going to match your 25k to support artist’s access to healthcare,” the ‘Stick Season‘ hitmaker wrote, announcing his decision. “I’m inspired by you. Happy to help get the ball rolling. Money where my mouth is!”
Shortly afterwards, the ‘Brat’ singer shared a similar post which read: “I saw @noahkahanmusic say that he would do the same and so I thought I’d follow suit. Your speech at the Grammys was inspiring and thoughtful and from a genuine place of care.”
Not all figures in the music industry have been supportive of Roan’s call for better support for artists though. Jeffrey Rabhan – a longtime music executive and former Chair of NYU’s Clive Davis Institute – responded to her words in a guest column for The Hollywood Reporter, calling her Grammys speech “misguided” and “uninformed”.
The ‘Good Luck, Babe’ singer then 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?” she asked, sparking the move to join forces with Backline. She also called on the music executive to follow suit with the donations: “I love how in the article you said ‘put your money where your mouth is. Genius !!! Let’s link and build together and see if you can do the same.”
Rabhan has yet to respond to her comments, and his name is not listed among the public donors for We Got You.
Since then, Roan has shared more comments about what has now turned into a crowdfunding campaign, and said that she hoped for change for the industry rather than donations from fans and artists.
“Sharing my personal experience on the Grammy stage wasn’t meant to be a crowdfunded bandaid but a call to action to the leaders of the industry to step up, help us make real change and protect their investments in a sustainable way,” she said on Instagram Stories.
“Fans, y’all don’t have to donate a damn penny. This is one of many opportunities for the industry powers to show up for artists. There is much more work to be done.”
More recently, Ariana Grande weighed in on the discussion too, and urged that entertainment companies include mental health services in artist contracts.
“It’s so important that these record labels, these studios, these TV studios, these big production companies make it a part of the contract when you sign on to do something that’s going to change your life in that way, on that scale. You need a therapist to be seeing several times a week,” she said.
“When these people are cast in these life-changing roles, or when they get that record deal, when they get that moment, that should be non-negotiable in the contract,” Grande continued. “Because to be an artist, you are a vulnerable person with your heart on your sleeve.”
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.”
