Ariana Grande has been a target of beauty criticism for a long time, and now it seems like the actress and singer have had enough.
The pop star got emotional during a recent interview with French journalist Salima Poumbga, addressing the relentless beauty standards and criticisms she has faced throughout her career.
The Grammy-winning singer, who is currently promoting Wicked and is an Oscar contender for best supporting actress, reflected on the toll public scrutiny has taken.
“I’ve been kind of doing this in front of the public and kind of been, you know, a specimen in a petri dish, really, since I was 16 or 17,” Grande said, holding back tears.
“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.”
Grande explained that criticism about one’s appearance, even in everyday life, is deeply unsettling.
“Even if you go to Thanksgiving dinner and your granny says, ‘You look skinnier. What happened? You look heavier. What happened?’ That is something that is uncomfortable and horrible no matter where it’s happening and no matter the scale it’s happening on.”
The singer also highlighted the dangerous normalization of commenting on people’s looks.
“There’s a comfortability that we shouldn’t have at all in commenting on others’ looks or health or how they present themselves, from what you’re wearing to your body to your face,” Grande said. She emphasized her decision to stop giving space to such negativity.
“I just don’t invite it in anymore. It’s not welcome. I have work to do. I have a life to live. I have friends to love on. It’s not invited. No one has the right to say s***.”
Grande’s Wicked co-star Cynthia Erivo, currently at the Red Sea Film Festival, also spoke about the online harassment Grande has faced during the film’s press tour. Erivo condemned cyberbullying as “quite dangerous.”
“It’s easy to be behind the computer typing words about a person you don’t know anything about,” Erivo said.
“What a person who has never met you thinks is never more important than what you think of yourself.”
