Chappell Roan says people with money have a ‘duty’ to give it away
Chappell Roan. (Joseph Okpako/Getty)
Chappell Roan. (Joseph Okpako/Getty)
Chappell Roan has proven her quality again whilst accepting an award for using her platform to do some good.
The 27-year-old “Pink Pony Club” singer was given the Harmonizer Award at the second annual Resonator Awards organised by the non-profit, We Are Moving The Needle. The ceremony was held in the Charlie Chaplin Studios in Los Angeles on Tuesday (27 January).
The Harmonizer Award is given to artists who use their platforms for social good which makes it entirely fitting that the 2026 recipient is the “Red Wine Supernova” singer, who has used her platform to advocate for emerging artists and the LGBTQ+ community.
Accepting the award, Roan said she felt “very uncomfortable being told that [she’s] a good person”, which she put down to “Christian guilt”. Roan then told the teleprompter operator she’d cut her speech down to a quarter of its original length, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Addressing the crowd, which included the likes of Chaka Khan, Joni Mitchell, Olivia Rodrigo, Doechii, and Addison Rae, Roan urged people to give back. She said: “I kind of think it’s just an artist, and anybody that has money, it’s your duty to give it away. I don’t really know what else there is to harmony other than giving.”
Referencing the many ills facing people around the world at the moment, she added: “I don’t really know what’s going to happen to women, gay people or people of colour or really anyone, but I think that the only thing that matters is community and kindness and giving what you can.”
Roan’s advocacy work is an example to many in the entertainment industry and beyond as to how someone with a substantial platform can help others benefit from that. Last October, “The Subway” singer founded The Midwest Princess Project to fundraise for transgender youth and the wider LGBTQ+ community, raising more than $400,000.
Similar ly, Billie Eilish has also encouraged people to donate their resources to good causes. Earlier this month, Eilish collected the 2026 MLK Jr. Beloved Community Environmental Justice Award after donating $11.5 million (£8.5 million) earned from her Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour to food equity and climate justice organisations.
And last October, the “bad guy” singer called out billionaires including Mark Zuckerberg and urged them to use their money to help people “that need it”.
Sabrina Carpenter has also donated funds raised from her Short n’ Sweet tour to the Transgender Law Center, via her own fundraising organisation, The Sabrina Carpenter Fund.
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