Chappell Roan is one of Gen-Z’s most iconic musicians and every time I hear about her in the news, I cannot be more proud of her.Two weeks ago, Roan won her first Grammy for Best New Artist and performed her song “Pink Pony Club” for millions of viewers.

Though I’ve found most artists’ Grammy speeches to be full of fluff, Chappell Roan used her speech to bring up issues she and other artists have had while in the industry. Mainly, she discussed how artists give their all to the labels, but many labels do not provide a living wage or healthcare to their new artists.

She ended her speech with a powerful challenge to the music industry, asking, “We got you, but do you got us?”

However, Roan’s actions were not without backlash.

Most notably, former music industry executive Jeffrey S. Rabhan decided to write an article in the Hollywood Reporter titled, “Chappell Groan: The Misguided Rhetoric of an Instant Industry Insider (Guest Column).”

“Roan gets respect and true appreciation for her artistry and gumption but is far too green and too uninformed to be the agent of change she aspires to be today,” Rabhan said.

However, this statement completely ignores the fact that Roan has been a part of the music industry for almost ten years.

He then admonishes her for not supporting her fellow artists.

“Why isn’t Roan pushing her artist peers to put their money where their mouth is and donate two to three percent of their advance to a fund that supports fellow artists?” Rabhan said.

Roan saw this and responded by donating $25,000 to Backline, a non-profit focused on providing mental healthcare to people in the music industry. Noah Khan and Charlie XCX then followed suit, matching her donations.

She then clapped back at Rabhan, doing exactly what he asked and pushing him to “put his money where his mouth is.”

Rabhan then went on a tangent on X (formerly Twitter).

Rabhan tries to garner sympathy from people on X, opening his tweet with, “Who thought it was a good idea to publicly challenge an educator to a 25k ‘one-upping’ contest? Really? Do you know what teachers make?”

This is despite the fact that Rabhan is not, and has never been, a public educator. It’s almost like he forgot his LinkedIn is public.

But I wasn’t the only one to catch onto this. Several of Roan’s fans took to his comments and called him out for what he said.

However, some fans decided not to waste their energy on trying to educate Rabhan and instead took to making fun of him.

Time and time again, Roan has proven that she will not be bullied. Not by the her audience, not by photographers and especially not by industry execs trying to downplay her efforts.

This boldness should not just be appreciated, it should be applauded. For too long, the general public has treated celebrities like dolls made for our entertainment, pushing boundary after boundary. Chappell Roan is changing that.

I hope to keep seeing Chappell Roan in the news, because each time I do, I know she’s making a change for the better.

Go stream “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.”