Martina Navratilova applauds Chappell Roan after $6M-worth singer boldly calls out record labels in Grammy winner speech

Martina Navratilova took to social media on Tuesday, February 3 to offer her support to singer Chappell Roan. The pop star, who is worth $6 million according to Celebrity Net Worth, used her Grammy-winning platform to call out record labels - imploring them to improve working conditions for their artists.

Roan was signed by Atlantic Records in 2015 as a teenager, after gaining traction as a YouTuber under the name Kayleigh Rose. However, she was dropped in 2020, only to then sign with Dan Nigro’s independent imprint Amusement Records, where she released her debut album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess." Roan won Best New Artist at this year's Grammys.

The 26-year-old took to the podium to thank family and friends, before bravely admonishing her paymasters by saying:

“I told myself that if I ever won a Grammy and got to stand up here before the most powerful people in music, I would demand that labels in the industry profiting millions of dollars off of artists would offer a livable wage and health care, especially developing artists. If my label had prioritized it, I could have been provided care for a company I was giving everything to. Record labels need to treat their artists as valuable employees with a livable wage and health insurance and protection.”

Martina Navratilova immediately took to her X (formerly Twitter) account to issue a response with an emoji:

"👏🏼"

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Martina Navratilova, 18-time Major singles champion, is a vocal champion for liberal issues

Day Ten: The Championships - Wimbledon 2024 - Source: Getty

Considered a leading liberal voice, workers and civil rights are subjects dear to Martina Navratilova's heart. She has often used her various platforms to endorse the interests of women, the gay and transexual communities, and other poorly represented minorities.

Navratilova turned professional at 18 and is arguably acutely aware of the capacity for young sports and creative people to be abused by the system. She was still only 21 when she won the first of her 18 Major singles titles, overcoming Chris Evert in four sets to take the 1978 Wimbledon crown.

Now 68, and with close to half a million X (formerly Twitter) followers, Martina Navratilova now enjoys the freedom social media gives her to express herself. Having been born in Czechoslovakia, which has a history of persecuting dissenting voices, Navratilova reflected on using her online platform to express herself in an episode of the On with Kara Swisher podcast in December 2023 and said:

"Well, I left my country because I couldn't speak my mind. That was one of the reasons I wanted to be free to say what I want. And then I get here and then I say what I want, and then I get excoriated for it for different reasons. This is a chance to have no filter and no censorship," she said.

It's not surprising, then, that Navratilova applauded Chappell Roan's plea for better conditions. She will have seen herself in the young singer's pluck in taking on the establishment.