New diva rumors surrounding Ariana Grande. The singer was caught on camera licking a batch of freshly baked donuts, fat shaming Americans. Will this potentially harm her image? Kill me. Get your ass in here. I’m family. Come on, girl. Ariana Grande, award-winning vocalist, actress, entrepreneur, style icon, diva, culture vulture, and homewrecker? Ever since her breakthrough into superstardom, it has felt like she has always been riddled with controversy and negative labels.
Every year, the public perception of Ariana has drastically shifted. Why was her reputation always in the trenches, and how did she always execute damage control and get the public back on her side? Before getting into her turbulent reputation, it is important to first talk about how she was first viewed by the public when she first got famous.
Ariana’s big break was playing the ditzy Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon TV show Victorious, a show about a group of high school friends where I think they all sing. She sings absolutely everything. She never stops. That’s what a true Liz is. You sing a lot, too. Like, especially because we all sing. You know what else can make us all sing? The sponsor of today’s video, Lelo Boutique.
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So, what are you waiting for? Claim your gift and treat yourself. Now, let’s get back to the video. Ariana got a bunch of attention from the show because Cat was the fan favorite character. She was cute, infantilized, and had colorful red hair. She was like Little Orphan Annie, but instead of wanting a family, she wanted Bibble. While kids loved her, Victorious gave Ariana very limited opportunities to sing on the show.
I mean, the show was called Victorious, not Arianaris. And before you start jumping to comparisons about singing abilities, which one is still not afraid to release music the same day as Taylor Swift? Right. Right. This is the third time that you’ve released something the same day as Taylor >> Every Taylor Swift fan, anyone out there, this is not intentional.
Ariana used YouTube to showcase her voice, posting videos of her band 6 Strings, as well as covers like Emotions by Mariah Carey. Which, let’s just say, led to a bunch of unnecessary drama. Her covers gained traction, and it became common knowledge that Ariana could sing. Ariana was in a really great spot.
Kids loved her because they believed she shared the same personality as Cat Valentine, and she was an incredible vocalist. Because of this, it was a no-brainer to give her a record deal and drop music to strike while the iron was hot. As a way to distinguish herself from Cat Valentine, Ariana stopped dying her hair the candy apple red and went back to being a brunette.
Even though Ariana wanted to make sure that the public saw her as a separate entity, there were still times where she would lean into Cat Valentine’s cadence. The most apparent difference was that Ariana spoke in a much lower register than Cat Valentine, but not too different that it would confuse her child fan base. Well, thank you. Thank you.
In music videos and interviews, Ariana would style her hair in a high ponytail. Interestingly, Ariana said that this hairstyle started out as resourceful rather than a pure stylistic choice. After years of needing to dye her hair for Victorious, her hair became incredibly weak, so her high ponytail was a strategic way of adding volume.
However, everyone was complimentary of the look to the point that she single-handedly made a high pony a trend in fashion. In every photoshoot, red carpet, and magazine cover, Ariana’s high pony was her signature look. What started off as a way to hide hair damage quickly became a stroke of genius in branding and marketing.
There is a theory that in order to become famous, you need to have a distinguishable silhouette. For example, we all know who this is, and this, and this. Ariana’s clothing was a huge selling point to her brand. Her fashion was very frilly and twee-adjacent. I would even go out on a limb and say that she was inspired by antique dolls.
Her style also matched the music that she was releasing, retro-inspired pop R&B hits with a sprinkle of doo-wop. In the pop world, aesthetics are just as important as the music itself. Ariana’s niche was cutesy and doll-like, but with the vocals of a diva. One thing that Ariana really wanted us to know is that she was a small bean, highlighted mostly by her iconically tucking her hands into her sleeves.
The high pony and style took Ariana to the next level because at that point in time, she was only big with kids. She was famous from a kids TV show, so adults were less inclined to know who she was. But, as soon as YouTubers started posting tutorials on how to get the Ariana Grande ponytail, she was finally in the mainstream. However, as we see time and time again, the more fame you achieve, the more hate you receive.
Ariana’s public image was insulated by the incredibly likable Cat Valentine character, which was so popular with audiences that a spin-off was created with Jennette McCurdy’s character from iCarly after Victorious came to an end. At the same time, rumors started to brew that there was a feud on set between Ariana and Jennette McCurdy.
The show was canceled in 2014, which was relatively early for a Nickelodeon show, especially one with two famous stars. So, it just added to the rumors that Ariana and Jennette did not get along. When Jennette released her memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died, she confirmed that there was jealousy and frustration towards Ariana because she would have privileges that weren’t afforded to Jennette, like getting to miss work for an award show performance.
Then this week happened. The week where I was told Ariana would not be here at all, and that they would write around her absence this episode by having her character be locked in a box. Are you kidding me? So, I have to turn down movies while Ariana’s off whistle-toning at the Billboard Music Awards? This. Ariana misses work in pursuit of her music career, while I act with a box.
Ariana started to get accused of being the 21st century equivalent of a Salem witch. A diva. In 2014, scathing reports came out that Ariana had unreasonable demands and acted rude towards others. It was reported that Ariana only wanted photos taken from the left side of her face because it was her good side.
She even walked out of a photoshoot in Australia because they did not comply with her wishes. Even though Ariana denied that this was true, there was so much evidence pointing to Ariana only wanting photos from the good side of her face. Firstly, if you look at any photoshoot, Instagram post, or red carpet photo from 2012 to 2014, it is always the left side of her face.
Even the thumbnails of this video are from the left side of her face. It feels like you have to access the dark web to find a picture of the right side. Giuliana Rancic also entered the chat by confirming that when she interviewed Ariana at the American Music Awards, she requested to swap places so that her good side would be facing the camera.
There was even a moment at the 2014 Kids’ Choice Awards where she requested for a photographer to show her his photos to approve them beforehand. I also did some investigative journalism of my own and found the raw footage to the 2014 VMA pre-show. I have made an entire video talking about all of the moments that were caught on camera when the celebrities thought that they were on standby, but Ariana’s is especially damning.
Firstly, when she was about to be interviewed by Sway, she made her personal assistant tell him that she wants to go get photos on the red carpet before getting interviewed. We’re going to do Are we going to do the Hold on one second. One second. One second. One second. Okay. Hey. She got Let’s just do this right after we do your We’ll come right back to you.
Let’s just get the photos over with. Okay, she wants to do it after photos. Once she returns back for an interview, she makes Sway switch sides so that her left side is facing the camera. She was also disappointed with the lighting of the interview, so she tried to get her personal assistant to call in an eclipse.
Can we block the sun? Uh no, I don’t think so. Okay. Are you not okay with this one? No, I’m okay with this. Okay. Okay. You look beautiful. You look stunning. >> stunning. You look hot. You look hot. All right, step out, guys. To be fair, the direct lighting from the sun was terrible. I would be just as mad about it.
Nobody looks good in overhead lighting. Also, Ariana is not the only person in the world that thinks that they have a good side and wants to look their best in photos. I mean, I would take photos from my good side if I had a bad side, but I don’t. We all have insecurities, and she was still only 20 years old, but things got a little more heated after reports came out that she made her fans delete selfies with her when she did not like them at meet and greets.
>> Just this week, Ari met with some fans outside of a radio station in New York, and while she was super nice to their faces, apparently right when she got in the elevator, she started talking about how she hoped they would die. This was the worst accusation of them all because the golden rule of being famous is to not piss off your fans.
Additionally, it was reported that Ariana’s team gave reporters a list of questions that were off limits, including anything about Jennette McCurdy or strangely, Mariah Carey. Ever since Ariana posted a cover of Emotions on her YouTube channel, comparisons were made between the two, even calling her the new Mariah, which was not a very complimentary thing for either party.
>> Her nicknames vary from the new Mariah to the post-millennial Mimi. Mariah would not like feeling replaced, and Ariana would not like feeling that she had no identity, but it was still eyebrow-raising to hear that any mention of Mariah was made off limits. Ariana Grande, they always say she’s a young Mariah.
How do you feel about those comparisons? >> First of all, I’m still young cuz I I discount numbers. Numerically speaking, >> Okay. I stopped counting at 17, so I don’t know. But I wish everybody all the best of luck, and if this is a career path they choose, hope that they can achieve longevity. Funnily enough, Mariah is also known for wanting photos taken from her good side, which is her right side.
She even made Andy Cohen swap seats with her so that her good side was facing the camera. Her good side is opposite to Ariana’s, which has worked out perfectly for both of them whenever they took photos together in the far future. It is arguable that the entire reason Ariana was labeled as a diva in the first place was because of the Mariah comparisons.
Mariah is one of the most famous divas in the world. >> While some may think of a diva as the female version of a hustler or an incredibly talented vocalist, it was also a term used to define women that had high standards or were viewed as difficult by men. Mariah got this title from being shady towards other singers and playing up the persona that she was the queen of the land.
It was always unserious, yet it was way more lucrative for the media to call her a diva. While Mariah played into the label, the diva title did not align with the image that Ariana was trying to portray in the infancy of her career. She was meant to be the innocent, humble girl next door, not the spoiled princess that had unreasonable demands, including being carried around like a baby when she did not want to walk.
Ariana’s strategy to get rid of the diva label was to deny and ignore. Um if any of the things that they were saying were true, I wouldn’t mind it, but um since they’re not >> Well, you said it. We all did. >> no, no, no, no, they twisted it though. They twisted it though. All right, so That is not what I said. She gave her side of the story for walking out of the photo shoots, denied demanding to be carried everywhere, and did not address the other accusations in hopes that they would just disappear.
But I read a thing that you insist on being carried by like your security guard or something. >> There was a picture of me being carried by my tour manager. >> Right. >> had to start a video in pointe shoes. >> Right. So, that isn’t true. >> No. You don’t get carried anywhere. >> No! That’s so stupid! Hello, I’m Ariana Grande.
I must be carried. It was just a It was just like a photographer or something who got mad at me because I left to like change my outfit mid photo shoot cuz I didn’t like my top. And then I was like, “Oh, I’ll be right back.” And then I came back, and it was and he had left. And I was like, “Oh, shit.
” And then he just like came out with something that like said all these ridiculous, untrue things about me, and I’m just like, “You know what? That’s not real. That’s nonsense.” >> And to her credit, it kind of worked. People have terrible memories. Celebrities get canceled year after year, and then we look back and go, “Why did we cancel them again?” Ariana moved forward with the promotion of her second album, My Everything, and leaned into a more mature image, which came with its own social commentary, like from Mayim Bialik from The Big Bang
Theory. She saw a billboard promoting Ariana’s album and thought that it was hypersexualized, questioning why she had to be in lingerie to sell her music. With new music and new discourse, the diva accusations faded away. But everything changed on the 4th of July, 2015, the day that Ariana was exposed as being a donut-licking, America-hating brat.
On America’s most patriotic day, Ariana walked into a donut shop in California called Wolfee Donuts with her then boyfriend, Ricky Alvarez. Unbeknownst to Ariana, everything that she said and did was being recorded by a security camera, which was later leaked to TMZ. After the worker brings out a tray of donuts for display, Ariana has quite the reaction.
She was just like really rude to me. While the donuts were left unattended, Ricky allegedly dared Ariana to lick one of the donuts. Most of you are probably like, “Ew, no, I wouldn’t do that.” But you need to remember, this was a dare, and Ariana is a dangerous woman. So, she licked it, claiming it as her own.
I’m like, “That’s my cookie. That’s my juice, okay?” And in this circumstance, this her donut. One of the trays, yeah, she was licking on them, but the other tray she spit on them. As soon as this video was released online, the media erupted. They called her every name that they could: unpatriotic, disrespectful, privileged, gross, ungrateful, entitled.
This was Ariana’s version of Miley’s bong scandal, an event that pivoted Miley from child star to a bonafide provocateur. To learn more, go watch my video on it. This was a really difficult video for Arianators to see because it felt like the mask was slipping. Ariana’s image was all about being the innocent girl next door, but now she looks like a spoiled brat.
Now, look, you can’t go around here licking no pastries tonight. Okay. >> Okay. >> All right, I’ll take notes. Yes, no pastry [music] licking. The video was allegedly leaked by an employee of the shop without the owner knowing. The shop ended up firing this employee for violating company policy, and it also opened up more trouble with the health inspector.
After an investigation, the store’s health grade was reduced from an A to a B for exposed food. While it is gross for Ariana to lick a donut that she had no intention of buying, it is even more gross for a store to leave food unattended around people that could cough, sneeze, or lick. As for Ariana, the police got involved, but the owner decided to not press charges against her, likely out of embarrassment for the entire event.
It’s hard to know exactly what she would have been charged with, likely vandalism of food, but whatever she would have been charged with, it would have been highly unlikely for her to receive any prison time. Unlike the diva allegations, this was not a scandal that Ariana could ignore and wait for people to forget about.
She initially posted a written apology, but this was not enough for people, so then she had to make a second apology, but this time in a black and white filtered video. >> I’d like shove my face in a pillow and wanted to disappear. But instead of that, I’m going to come forward and >> [clears throat] >> own up to what I did and take responsibility.
And um say I’m sorry because I reacted in a way that I feel like wasn’t necessary. She said that she was proud of being an American and what she actually meant to say was that she hated the obesity epidemic in America, which is still on the rise, so it is a legitimate issue, but she talked about body positivity 4 months later, saying, “You know what is not sexy? Misogyny, objectifying, labeling, comparing, and body-shaming.
Talking about people’s bodies as if they’re on display, asking for your approval or opinion. They are not. Celebrate yourself. Celebrate others.” She was also confronted about the scandal on a morning talk show, which someone cleverly edited to make it seem like she was super unbothered by. We want to welcome you, Ariana, here to Good Morning America.
Thank you for having me. Thanks for being with us. We want to start though with that video that made headlines earlier this summer. You were in a donut shop. You were in California. You said some hurtful things about Americans and about people’s weight. Even with the apologies, this scandal definitely affected her career.
Not only did people stop seeing her as the innocent girl next door, but it also made her lose out on gigs. She canceled her performance at the MLB All-Star Game concert that weekend. While it was said that it was due to an emergency wisdom teeth surgery, it was most likely due to the scandal.
She was replaced by Demi Lovato. She also lost out on another performance for Obama claiming that they did not want to be associated with her right now. This also just made everyone remember that there is no real privacy for celebrities. Even close friends and family members are known to leak information to the press for money. Beyoncé, Solange, and Jay-Z can’t even have a private elevator ride together.
The ultimate loser in this entire scandal, however, was the donut shop, which is now permanently closed, potentially after 2023 since someone left a review in July of that year. Ariana was able to make a comeback from Donutgate. She released the single Focus, which was the intended lead single of her next album, at the time called Moonlight, but it didn’t make that much noise, so Ariana went back to the drawing board and released Dangerous Woman.
Even though people did not make the connection at the time, arguably the song was poking fun at the way that the media was portraying her during Donutgate. No one actually viewed her as a dangerous woman, but this was her way of somewhat reclaiming her narrative and saying, “Yeah, I’m not the goody-two-shoes that you used to know me as.
” Her Dangerous Woman album was incredibly [snorts] successful, and it led to her going on a massive world tour. This leads us to May 22nd, 2017, the night where she did a performance in Manchester, which was unfortunately hit with a terrorist attack bombing that killed 22 people. Media perception shifted dramatically.
Not only did everyone have sympathy for the victims, their families, and the other fans that attended the concert, but also to Ariana herself. She would have felt an immense sense of guilt for her concert being the location of this tragedy, even though it was not her fault at all and could have happened at anybody’s concert.
Ariana handled the situation with compassion, grace, and respect. She held the One Love Manchester concert in tribute of the victims, and by putting on a brave face, she showed the world how resilient she was. Based on the Manchester bombing, looking back at all of Ariana’s past scandals and rumors just felt trivial.
There was no way to villainize Ariana during this period because it was not a moment for selling tabloids and salacious stories. This was one of the most solemn and serious things that can happen. 2017 to 2018 was a pretty polarizing time for Ariana’s reputation because people were in two camps the entire time.
You either liked her or you did not. This was during her Sweetener era, which had received mixed reviews. Some people found the lead single, No Tears Left to Cry, not lead single material, especially since it was her first music drop since the Manchester bombing. The message was about finding the light again after going through an incredibly dark period and ended the music video with a bee symbolizing Manchester.
The song was also the introduction to Ariana’s iconic ad-lib. The Light Is Coming was also criticized for the annoying sample of “You wouldn’t let anybody speak, but instead”, which plays throughout the entire song. The album cover had polarizing opinions, too, because she was upside down, and I guess people don’t like to be in a constant handstand.
But, on the other hand, God Is a Woman was well-liked, especially by James Charles. And the album itself performed incredibly well on the charts. Also during this era, Ariana and Mac Miller broke up, which did not lead to anybody picking sides because both were well-liked. >> [laughter] >> Ariana then started dating Pete Davidson after meeting him on Saturday Night Live.
Ariana was down bad for Pete, so much so that the only skip on the Sweetener album was his name. On the 7th of September, 2018, Mac Miller sadly passed away from an overdose, which was very upsetting for Ariana considering that they were together for several years. There were awful accusations that Ariana was the reason for Mac’s passing, as well as a rumor that Pete Davidson allegedly sent Mac intimate images of Ariana to emotionally distress him.
Regardless of the validity, Ariana and Pete broke up shortly after and quickly dropped one of the biggest songs off her career, Thank U, Next. The song was a huge surprise to everyone because we all thought that we were still in the Sweetener era. Ariana playfully sings about moving on from her exes in the same way that Simon Cowell would reject someone on American Idol, embodied with the titular lyric, “Thank U, Next.
” The song leaves nothing to the imagination. She name-dropped more than Lisa Barlow. >> I’m doing stuff with Daniel Radcliffe, Usher, Dexter Jordan, Forest Whitaker, Shailene Woodley. She references Big Sean, Ricky Alvarez, Pete Davidson, and Mac Miller. She’s talking about Mac Miller, sorry. Having a catchy melody and lyrics referencing your very public personal life is a recipe for a hit.
What gave the song an even bigger cultural impact was its music video, paying homage to 2000s chick flicks, Not Derogatory. She played Regina George in Mean Girls, Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, but with her brunette hair for some reason. They must have only had the budget for one lace front. She also played Torrance in Bring It On and Jenna in 13 Going on 30 for like 13 to going on 30 seconds.
In retrospect, the chick flick aesthetic was incredibly disconnected from the theme of the song. Don’t get me wrong, it’s incredibly iconic and great at marketing the song, but what does Bring It On have to do with moving on from her exes? The only connection is a reference to the Burn Book in Mean Girls in the single cover, but it felt like the idea became too broad.
But, you know what? Let’s get back to what this video is actually about. Thank U, Next was a smash hit, and it was followed up with an arguably even bigger hit, 7 Rings. With the release of the Thank U, Next album, she held the top three songs on Billboard, something that had never been accomplished before. At this point, everybody saw Ariana as the biggest pop star on the planet.
She headlined Coachella, which gave us this hilarious moment with Nicki Minaj trying to stay on beat because her in-ears weren’t working. >> [music] >> And she even won a Grammy for the Sweetener album. Even though Ariana was at a career high and felt indestructible, there were rumblings of questionable behavior that continued to grow, but more on this later.
In 2020, something incredibly serious happened to every single person in the world, but my memory’s a bit foggy on what happened. Like like a a panorama or something. While everyone was cooped up inside their home social distancing, [music] Ariana released her album Positions, which received mixed reviews. Mainly people finding it too slow and too boring.
Keep in mind, this was during a time when people were trying to have fun and [music] dance. Future Nostalgia, Chromatica, and Say So by Doja Cat were what were popular. So, down-tempo R&B was not on trend. Regardless of the mixed reviews, the music that she made actually helped pivot her into the successful career that she has right now.
The more mature sound of the Positions album made people realize that Ariana was a sophisticated artist rather than driven purely by commercial success. In the wise words of Gaga, she writes for the music, not for the charts. In the early 2020s, Ariana focused more on projects outside of music. She was promoting her cosmetic line, r.e.m.
beauty, was a mentor on The Voice, and was casted as Glinda in the film adaption of Wicked. Ariana was now seen as a multi-talented industry veteran, even though she was only known to the mainstream for about 7 years. The time off from music gave Ariana the space for the world to see her as an established figure in the entertainment industry, but even more importantly, it gave Ariana the freedom to escape the high pony.
Since Ariana was pivoting into movie roles and business endeavors, she was putting on a different hat. Or should we say, her style. Ariana started to wear her hair down when appearing on The Voice and then dyed her hair blonde for Wicked. Ariana did get rid of the high pony sometimes during the Sweetener era, but it wasn’t a full departure.
Retrospectively, I wonder how much of Ariana’s projects and changes in style were affected by Jon Chu’s perception of her during the Wicked casting. In an interview, Jon mentioned that he was incredibly hesitant about considering Ariana for the role of Glinda because he could not separate his view of her as a pop star with a high pony.
He told her to strip down, take off her makeup, and basically walk in like a blank canvas. Only then could he see her playing the role. She had to audition, everyone had to audition, and she came in first time, and she looked like Ariana Grande. And we thought, “Hey, what if you came back and just didn’t have any of your makeup?” I did not know how that would go over.
Not even a question. She came in and did that, and I saw her in a totally new light that I’d never seen her in. Potentially, Ariana’s break from music and low profile also assisted with helping Jon Chu view her differently. As I hinted earlier on in the video, from about 2015 to 2022, [music] Ariana was constantly accused of being a culture vulture.
Over the years, Ariana would tan her skin a lot darker than her natural skin tone. Fans have disputed how dark her tanning actually was, arguing that lighting plays a huge role in how her skin tone appeared on camera. This is true, but then there were times like the 2016 VMAs where her skin was darker than Nicki Minaj, an actual black woman.
Ariana would also frequent a black scent and use AAVE, which stands for African-American Vernacular English. For example, when pits girl on Tik Tok was being canceled, it was because she said >> No, like I finna be in the pit. Where finna is AAVE. It is just another way of saying going to, but it is weird when a white woman that was clearly not raised in a predominantly black environment starts talking like she was.
There were a plethora of interviews where Ariana would use a black scent and just like the pit girl, it was weird when a white woman that was clearly not raised in a predominantly black environment started talking like she was. Can we get your ass in here? Come on, girl. I know people love that. People love that.
And that’s why people don’t like my shows. >> Girl. >> What’s the craziest Has anyone said anything to you about MAC? You know, I love my MAC lipstick. >> [laughter] >> This is the MAC I’m here to talk about today, girl. Come on. I’m like, that’s my cookie. [music] That’s my juice, okay? Carry on. Thank you, next.
That’s what this baby picture says. But for real though, on some real Even though I was going to look cute, so I got good news [singing] for you, kid. >> [laughter] >> Let’s get But the gang is not a cute no matter what. Girl, I don’t need eyes. Have you seen his legs, honey? Yes. She even used a black scent in a T-Mobile commercial.
Girl, you better get on T-Mobile. She needs to get herself some unlimited data. Also, looking back at her apology for the donut scandal, she was potentially using AAVE. The cultural appropriation was so deeply entrenched into Ariana’s image that some people genuinely forgot that she was white. They made fun of it on Saturday Night Live. I was Hispanic.
>> [laughter] >> That’s a common mistake. I’m actually just very, very Italian. I’m Italian. And even Lana Del Rey assumed that she was a minority during her explanation of the Lana Del Rey prophecy. If you have no idea what I am talking about, go watch my video covering it. But in short, Lana Del Rey was criticized for singling out famous woman of color in her think piece, and in her explanation, she did not treat Ariana like a white woman.
I’m sorry that, you know, I didn’t add one Caucasian, 100% Caucasian person into the mix of the women that I admire. The cultural appropriation was also featured in her music. Outside of singing over hip hop and trap influenced beats, Ariana’s cadence would sometimes sound like a black scent on the Sweetener and Thank U, Next albums.
I said sing like that little white black girl that you are. That’s what I said. And her music videos would co-opt hip hop culture, singing about having that hood love and bad decisions, and the 7 Rings video being inside of a Barbie doll trap house. Yeah, the Thank U, Next era was definitely when the blackfishing criticisms were most vocal, and she slowly started to transition back to her natural skin tone and started talking less Atlanta and more transatlantic.
Well, don’t get me started. You got to admit, that was a good line. Give me the pull it for that one. The changes were hard to ignore. When she joined The Voice, so many people were talking about how different she looked and sounded. While some people saw a newborn white woman, others saw a Korean.
There was discourse about whether Ariana was Asianfishing because of her makeup and styling taking influence from K-beauty trends, but the entire time, it felt like people found it more comedic rather than actually offensive. A lot of memes were made editing Ariana to look even more distinctly like other ethnicities, and even though no one seemed genuinely offended by them, I’m choosing not to add them to this video.
It just doesn’t feel right to me. I’m only bringing this up to explain the context that the criticisms were not actual outrage, they were always lighthearted. Ariana was left with a bunch of different nicknames related to her different cultural appropriations: Blackiana, Africana Grande, Arianka Grande, Indiana Grande, and my personal favorite, Arigato Grande.
After finally having some quieter years and a steadily positive reputation, it was announced in the middle of 2023 that Ariana was divorcing her then husband, Dalton Gomez. Shortly after, reports came out that Ariana was getting close on set with her Wicked co-star, Ethan Slater. The reason why this was so scandalous was because he was still married and just recently had a baby.
Ethan’s wife said that she was completely blindsided and felt like Ariana was not a girl’s girl, which made people start to think that she was a homewrecker. While it is completely unfair to blame a married man’s adultery on the other woman, people did bring up that Ariana seemed to have a pattern of behavior of doing similar things in the past.
Firstly, when Ariana dated Big Sean shortly after he broke off his engagement with Naya Rivera in 2014, in Naya’s memoir, she wrote that after returning home one night, she caught Ariana and Sean on the couch together looking awfully close. I never said they were cuddling. >> Yeah. I never said he cheated. >> Mhm. I said she was sitting on a couch.
>> Which is kind of weird though if you haven’t heard from your fiance >> And then you walk into his house and there she is. >> Draw your own conclusions, but I said she was sitting on a couch. People also accused her of stealing Mac Miller from his previous girlfriend, but then she came out of the woodwork to clarify that there was no overlap.
Then in 2018, Cazzie David confirmed in her memoir that Pete Davidson broke up with her one day before making his relationship with Ariana public, implying that there was definitely an overlap. >> Break up with your girlfriend. Even though there was no concrete evidence to prove it Ariana was trying to break up relationships, the pattern of behavior was enough to cause suspicion.
People would make jokes telling others to hide their men from Ariana, and it once again felt like her reputation was flushed down the toilet. Just like what she did with most of her other scandals, she did not directly address the issue, but she did indirectly address it in her music. When Ariana released Yes, And at the beginning of 2024, she sang, “Your business is yours and mine is mine.
Why do you care so much whose I ride?” I think I liked it better when her ponytail was a few centimeters higher. >> Right. Who cares if she’s happy? I don’t want happy. I want art. The reception to this lyric was not well received because people expected her to bend the knee, but instead, she was unbothered by the accusations and sort of embraced it.
She also released The Boy Is Mine, which was kind of a flip on the Brandy and Monica song of the same name, which is all about two women fighting over the same man. During the Wicked promotional tour, there was a very conscious effort to not have Ariana and Ethan Slater photographed together because they knew it would taint the positive energy that they were trying to sell for the movie.
When you Google photos of the two together, maybe like five different photos come up in the results. They have kept their relationship incredibly quiet, which to me feels like a way of suppressing the homewrecking allegations, which would affect Ariana’s reputation while promoting the Wicked movie.
Interestingly enough, recent reports have come out saying that their relationship is calling off. The concept of soft launching a breakup. As we all know, Ariana has been in her Wicked era for the past few years. As soon as she dyed her hair blonde, it felt like there was a severe shift in Ariana’s style, personality, and reputation.
Ariana told Vogue magazine that the reason for the shift was to deconstruct her pop persona and find her Glinda character. While she was wearing wigs in the movie, she still felt like it was necessary to dye her hair and eyebrows blonde as a way, in her words, to live in the DNA and mindset of the character.
This feels like method acting to me, even though it is something that Kirsten Dunst only believes a man can afford to do. Now that the production of the movie is over, the fact that she has kept her hair blonde is incredibly intentional. I believe that she wants us to associate her real life personality with Glinda’s.
Since she was wearing wigs in the movie, she was unlikely to be under a contractual obligation to keep her hair blonde. People have pretty much universally agreed that dark hair suits her features better, so it is interesting that she hasn’t gone back to a brunette or brought the high pony out again. The blonde hair is first and foremost about promoting the Wicked movie.
Every single time a local sees a photo of Ariana in a newspaper and questions why she is still blonde, they will go, “Oh, yeah, the Wicked movie.” Coming out November 21st. In IMAX. And a sing-along version. But at the same time, the Glinda character has done so much good for Ariana’s reputation.
Not only is the industry recognizing her as an Oscar-nominated actress, but the public is associating her with the bubbly Glinda character. Archetype theory provides the idea that people clump others into common archetypes that they come across in stories and their other personal experiences. For example, the hero, the villain, the wise one.
Even though Glinda is technically the anti-hero in the film, Glinda’s personality traits are overwhelmingly likable. She is [music] feminine, positive, likable. She is one of the first people to show empathy to Elphaba and is proud of her accomplishments. Furthermore, Glinda is pretty much as close as you can get to being a Disney princess without getting sued for copyright.
Based on archetype theory, Ariana was able to absorb Glinda’s traits to improve her reputation. I mean, who hates Disney princesses? Well, besides Demi Lovato. She wasn’t some little hoe mermaid that [laughter] married a guy when she was 16 that she never had a conversation with. >> feels like the image that she has right now is similar to the image that she had at the beginning of her career.
Fans first associated her personality with Cat Valentine and now fans are associating her with Glinda, the good witch. Cat Valentine and Glinda have a lot of crossover. They are both likable, girly, and a tad ditzy. However, while she tried to detach herself from the Cat Valentine persona, she is now embracing the Glinda associations.
Additionally, her styling is so much more elegant and poised. She has shifted so far away from current trends and streetwear, so people have stopped associating her as a pop star, but rather as a movie star with beautiful gowns and micro bangs. Looking back, it seemed like every single time Ariana was hit with a scandal, she course-corrected her image to overcome the accusations.
When she was accused of being a diva to others in the industry, she started being overly polite. When she didn’t keep the politeness going in settings where she felt like she wasn’t being observed, she started to be a lot more careful with her words anytime she left the house. When she was accused of cultural appropriation, she changed her style, appearance, and her accent.
At some point, Ariana was probably questioning what is left of her true self that she could keep without criticism. And it didn’t seem like much. So, looking at Ariana’s very Glinda-esque personality now, maybe it is just the easiest way for her to protect her peace and stop being constantly criticized by the public.
It seems like Ariana has finally found the cure to keeping a positive reputation, but right now it is at the cost of dyeing her hair, changing her voice, and censoring herself. Is this sustainable? Is this viable to keep up? Let me know in the comments. Thank you guys so much for watching this video. A quick reminder that I have a Patreon where I’m posting exclusive content.
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