Ariana Grande is calling out the scrutiny she’s been placed under about her appearance throughout her time in the spotlight.
During an interview with the YouTube personality Sally, the Wicked star was asked how she deals with criticism about her looks.
Becoming emotional, she said: “I’ve been a specimen in a Petri dish, really, since I was 16 or 17. So I have heard it all, 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. From what you’re wearing, to your body, to your face to your everything.”
Ariana lamented: “There’s a comfortability that we shouldn’t have, at all, commenting on others’ looks, appearance, what they think is going on behind the scenes or health.
“Even if you go to Thanksgiving dinner, and someone’s granny says, ‘oh my good, you look skinnier! What happened?’ or ‘you look heavier, what happened?’, that is something that is uncomfortable and horrible, no matter where it’s happening or the scale it’s happening on.”
“I just don’t invite it in anymore. It’s not welcome,” she added. “I have work to do, I have a life to live, so I don’t leave space for it anymore.
“And however you all can protect yourselves from that noise, whether it’s at a family reunion or online, if you’ve got to block people, I don’t care. Keep yourself safe. Because no one has the right to say shit.”
“Can you tell I needed that today?” she then joked, as the host and her co-star Cynthia Erivo applauded.
Last year, Ariana shared a TikTok, in which said she “just wanted to address your concerns about my body” and pointed out there are “many different ways to look healthy and beautiful”.
“Personally, for me, the body that you’ve been comparing my current body to was the unhealthiest version of my body,” she said, claiming that when many fans felt she was at her most “healthy” she was, in fact, “on a lot of anti-depressants and drinking on them and eating poorly and at the lowest point of my life”.
Months later, she also reflected on her past use of Botox and fillers, and took on critics of her body more directly in her 2024 single Yes, And?.
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