Ariana Grande has responded to comments about her appearance, saying that “no one has the right to say shit”.
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In a video interview shared yesterday (December 5), Grande was asked about how she copes with expected beauty standards for women like her while on the Wicked promotional tour with Cynthia Erivo.
Grande pauses, taking in the question, with Erivo comforting her. “I’ve been kind of doing this in front of the public and kind of been a specimen in a petri dish since I was 16 or 17, so I have heard it all,” she told interviewer Sally.
“I’ve heard every version of it… of what’s wrong with me. And then you fix it, and then it’s wrong for different reasons. But that’s everything from – even just the simplest thing – your appearance, you know?”
She added: “It’s hard to protect yourself from that noise, and I think that it’s uncomfortable no matter what scale you’re experiencing it on. Even if you go to Thanksgiving dinner, and someone’s granny says, ‘Oh my God, you look skinnier! What happened?’ or ‘You look heavier! What happened?’”
Grande explained that such comments can be “uncomfortable and horrible,” and she expressed her unhappiness with the “comfortability that people have” to comment on the appearance of others. “I think it’s dangerous for all parties involved.”
She went on to say how she understands what the “pressure of that noise feels like”, even though she maintains she is confident in her appearance and has a strong support system to rely on.
“You all can protect yourselves from that noise — whether it’s at a family reunion or online, if you gotta block people, I don’t care if you have to delete the app entirely — you keep yourself safe because no one has the right to say shit,” Grande advised.
Last year, Grande also spoke out about fans’ “concerns” about her body, telling them that “I think we should be gentler and less comfortable commenting on people’s bodies, no matter what.”
With a combined $270million (£214.6milion) in worldwide ticket sales over the weekend, Wicked was the third-biggest opening weekend of the year, behind Deadpool & Wolverine and Inside Out 2. It was also a record for a Broadway musical adaptation.
Wicked hit cinemas in the UK and US on November 22, and it’s predicted by cinema bosses to be the biggest film of the year.
Grande’s ‘Imperfect For You’, taken from her latest album ‘Eternal Sunshine’, was named one of NME‘s 50 best songs of 2024.
Kristen S. He wrote: “An overwhelmingly beautiful ballad with a touch of psychedelic soul, ‘Imperfect For You’ is as close as you can get to a hidden gem on one of the year’s biggest pop albums. Love has equal potential to hurt and to heal, and Ariana Grande carries both possibilities with boundless grace.”