Two weeks ago, Ariana Grande’s Manchester concert was targeted by ISIS terrorists. The attack left more than 20 people dead, many of them children. Ariana Grande was devastated, like everyone else, and she helped to organize the One Love Manchester concert scheduled for tonight. Ariana was back in Manchester on Friday and Saturday, spending time with some of her fans who were injured in the terrorist attack. But last night, terrorists again targeted the British people with coordinated attacks in London. The attacks left at least seven people dead and dozens wounded. There were immediate concerns that British authorities would want to shut every event down, especially if the event could be a potential target for terrorists. But the One Love Manchester concert is still happening.
Following the terror attack in London last night, which has left seven dead and at least 48 injured, the benefit concert headlined by Ariana Grande and scheduled for tonight in Manchester — itself following a deadly suicide bombing at a Grande concert in that town two weeks ago — will go on “with greater purpose,” Grande’s manager Scooter Braun said this morning. In a statement, Braun said of the victims and those affected, “We plan to honor them with courage, bravery and defiance in the face of fear.”
The One Love Manchester concert, which will feature performances by Grande, Justin Bieber, Coldplay, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Pharrell Williams, Take That, Niall Horan, Little Mix, Robbie Williams and Black Eyed Peas, kicks off tonight at 6:55 PM local time at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground.
It is due to be aired live on BBC One in the UK and in the U.S. on ABC/Freeform. There are more than 50 countries that have signed up to air the show live and BBC Worldwide has confirmed to Deadline that all plans for the global simulcast remain in place.
Grande last night tweeted she was “praying for London.” Today, Braun released the following:
“After the events last night in London, and those in Manchester just two weeks ago, we feel a sense of responsibility to honor those lost, injured, and affected. We plan to honor them with courage, bravery, and defiance in the face of fear. Today’s One Love Manchester benefit concert will not only continue, but will do so with greater purpose. We must not be afraid and in tribute to all those affected here and around the world, we will bring our voices together and sing loudly. I am pleased to say we have the full support of Greater Manchester Police and the government and are assured the safety of all those attending is the highest priority.
“All artists involved have been unwavering in their support this morning and are determined to carry on with the show. We ask the strong city of Manchester and the world to join us in making the statement that hatred and fear will never win. Today we stand together. Thank you.”
Greater Manchester Police said this morning that there will be additional security in place and that “everyone will be searched, including bags.” All proceeds from the international distribution of TV rights for One Love Manchester will go towards the “We Love Manchester Emergency Fund,” set up by Manchester City Council in partnership with the British Red Cross.
I’m glad that the concert is still going ahead, and that so far, no artist has pulled out. That’s the way it should be – unbroken and unbowed in the face of terrorism. It’s sad, to me, that Ariana Grande has handled this difficult moment with more grace and humanity than the President of the United States, who in the midst of the unfolding London terrorist attack last night, began to tweet about his Muslim Ban. He’s tweeting again this morning, threatening that “it will only get worse” unless we listen to him and do what he wants. So much for the dignity of the office.
We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2017
Photos courtesy of Instagram, WENN.
Nice way of sending condolences. Using a tragedy to push your agenda.. WOW
what agenda is that exactly?
edit: my bad, thought you were talking about Ariana.
What Ariana is doing is fantastic! She deserves better then to share a post with Mr Bigly Twitter as he again managed to put the attention on him. We keep on giving him exactly what he wants.
I can’t believe his gun debate tweet this morning. His ignorance knows no bounds.
It comes to something when a president’s most easily comprehensible tweet is covfefe.
Trump is the biggest wanker on the planet, full stop. His ignorance and lack of acceptable social behaviour are truly mind-boggling. His supporters are even worse, because they are…followers folllowing, condoning and enabling this despicable ignoramus. I don’t even know what to say to Americans anymore, to convey how awful I feel for you.
Condolences and blessings to the victims and their families. My heart hurts for England.
Did you see the tweet he sent about the London Mayor Sadiq Khan, he is insufferable and has no decoram or diplomacy at all, its tragic how awful he is. My thoughts go to the people in London and all the victims, love from Ireland.
I don’t have Twitter, Nicole, but I did see that on our news. He truly is deplorable, utterly disgusting and as you say, insufferable. I, along with so many others, cannot wait until the presidential situation becomes so intolerable, that he and his assembly of arseholes are all unceremoniously tossed out.
Not a fan of her (don’t dislike her, either) but she’s handling this incredibly. It takes guts to stand up like that. I hope the concert will proceed without incident and the people affected find comfort in this gesture.
Same here. Not a fan but have some serious respect for how she has handled all of this.
I can take or leave her since I like some of her songs but not a huge fan. However she has been incredibly brave and if there’s one thing terrorists fear is bravery. They want us to cower in fear. It’s the same thing I told my dad last night (I’m traveling to London in a few weeks). If I change my plans or give in they win. Ariana is honoring the victims in the best way
I didn’t think I’d ever forgive her for the donut incident but I have now.
Same here, JenB. I think she has conducted herself brilliantly.
I agree, not a fan of hers or any of the other artists on the bill, but I give them props for continuing on. I hope all attending will be safe.
I have never been a fan of hers until now. The grit that she is showing in the face of terrorism is selfless. I can’t even articulate about it whiteout braking down in tears.
“The grit that she is showing in the face of terrorism is selfless.” Agreed. A person would be completely justified in just shutting down after going through something like that.
I am happy she goes on with the concert.
Yes but I don’t think I would attend. I think security needs to be really together
Someone take Twitter away from Trump – those tweets are awful. And am glad the concert is going ahead.
London Bridge is always busy with tourists and its a good night spot, we are thankful the police reacted very quickly (8mins).
And as for the election – this WILL affect the outcome. It will push the Leave and UKIP voters toward the Tories as Incompetent Corbyn is very very weak on security and his past connections to the IRA will cost him and Labour. He’s a weak leader who has spent the past week refusing to to be drawn in on the subject of whether he has what it takes to make hard decisions. The man can’t even handle hard questions from the press.
#LondonBridgeWillNotFallDown
I think that’s right. Corbyn came out in November as being against the “shoot to kill” policy for terrorist attacks, that will hurt him as well.
Yep, it’s interesting whenever the polls wobble and May is on the backfoot, an incident happens. This has been the third incident in the space of six weeks. On Friday on BBQT they had these trolls wanting to know why Corbyn wouldn’t give the go ahead to drop a nuclear bomb if threatened.
Like… what?
May is now wanting to control the internet, saying that we’re too tolerant of extremism. Says the woman who’s appeasing the far Right in her party and in the media. Says the woman who’s selling arms to Saudi Arabia who are using them to make war on Yemen. Our foreign policy is doing a LOT more harm than me wanting to write fanfiction and post it on the internet. I refuse to vote for a woman who wants to be all up in my DMs forcibly, as it were.
I honestly hope the UK splits up, because Westminster is failing us all. Let Scotland and Ireland flee whilst they can.
My problem with Corbyn during the campaign is that he’s had the past 2 years to prove he’s a leader – he’s a bit late to the party with that one. The horse has already bolted on whether he’s leader material – he’s proven he can’t lead his party or the opposition gov. Going on TV and trying to front like a ‘statesmen’ is too little too late. The electorate are not convinced he has what it takes to make hard decisions and lead during times like this. I’m a life long Labour supporter and I have always felt that electing him as leader of the party was a massive mistake that will affect the party for a long time.
You just need to look at what May did at the Home Office to see what kind of laws she will push through on immigration and security. Some of the things she tried to do there were challenged by the ECJ. She’s always been a hard line/authoritarian type.
ITA we need to change our foreign policy but neither of the 2 main candidates has what it takes to drive that forward.
Dodgy, it’s such hypocrisy when May was incompetent as Home Secretary, and how many police numbers have been cut. It’s not entirely clear yet how the security situation has been affected by cuts, I’m sure that information will come out at some point.
Obviously she’s going to come out with a tough line on this, but I don’t think there’s toleration for extremism at all – people in the Muslim community in Manchester reported Abedi several times as they were concerned about his behaviour, what happened with that information?
Also, I haven’t seen much press or analysis about this, but Abedi was originally from Libya, which has been politically unstable since the civil war in 2011, with NATO involvement from the US, France and the U.K.
I’m no Corbynista myself, tbh. But i will take my chances with him not wanting to go full dictatorship, and not wanting to root about in my DMs, tbh. I just want a hung parliament.
This is so far my favourite story from last night – typifies the British spirit:
http://metro.co.uk/2017/06/04/man-drinking-pint-while-fleeing-terror-attack-becomes-symbol-of-london-spirit-6683304/?ito=facebook
I was abroad this week on business and the client stakeholders teased us about how we Brits do like to enjoy the local alcoholic beverages after we mentioned that the Swiss/French wine was very good. LOL
The polls are useless. They range from a 1 point Tory lead to a 12 point Tory lead (and that was before this latest attack). That’s anywhere from a hung parliament to a huge Con majority.
I never believe the polls as they are always wrong. My prediction is that May will get her majority (she’ll take seats from the SNP) with Labour struggling to retain enough seats to remain as opposition gov. I think the Lib Dems will do well – they could take seats from Labour.
That foul orange man has tweeted insulting the Muslim mayor of London. I’m beyond livid.
Unsure how this will go down in the country at large. I think you have the hard core of Kippers who will certainly solidify in turning Tory. But a much larger number of people who feel that May herself has compromised security with police cuts.
Looking down my various timelines (and I do try to avoid them being echo chambers) I have lunatic fringe rightists banging on about Muslim Bans like Trump, lunatic fringe leftists banging on about false flags, but all the ORDINARY people – and that’s most people – are saying stop the police cuts and stop being chums with the Saudis, neither of which help May. And a large number of people – Tory and Labour alike – who are noting that May herself has just had 7 full years of being the person in charge of UK anti-terror policy. Also not good for her.
I share dodgy’s view of May’s authoritarianism and it’s pie in the sky on her part to think she can beat terrorism by controlling the internet instead of actually funding the police anyway. Even Tony Blair got defeated on wholesale abandoning of civil liberties and people actually LIKED him when he tried. But in her favour is that most people don’t really understand what it is that she’s suggesting.
It’s anyone’s guess who will benefit electorally from all this.
Good for Ariana going ahead. And love and best wishes to anyone caught up in the attack.
The choice is basically an authoritarian on one side and an indecisive fluff ball on the other – both are at opposite ends of the spectrum. People know what they are getting with May as she isn’t hiding what she is, Corbyn am not so sure.
Thursday is going to be a tough call. I think there will be a shocker; either May gets her majority or its a hung parliament.
Best to the UK. Our fearless leaders’ minions managed to wrestle his phone away for the trip abroad. Now he’s back and a bigger idiot than ever, misquoting the mayor. The only upside for us with his tweets is that he has and may continue to incriminate himself in obstruction of justice. Again, love and good wishes to London and all your wonderful land.
I’d take Corbyn over the right-wingers any day of the week.
Me too! I have people on my timeline talking about “taking back control of the country”. I’m not one to get into Facebook spats but I’m so tempted to write “take back control of what — and against who exactly?” It’s just disguised racism. And not even cleverly disguised.
What ever happens, I’d LOVE to get rid of first past the post. One person, one vote.
I saw a clip on the CNN here in the US of Nigel Farage who was on Fox News. He was calling for internment camps for people suspected of being terrorists in the UK. The Fox News anchors actually gave a disclaimer afterward saying they thought that was abhorrent and it didn’t reflect their thoughts or the thoughts of Fox News.
How bad do you have to be that even Fox News anchors are horrified! UKIP are really scary!
@Digital Unicorn (aka Betti): LOVE LOVE LOVE your hashtag!
Love and prayers going out for London from Los Angeles… We stand with you!
I hate Trump with all the bones of my body. This TWEET in the middle of a terror attack … The nerve, the audacity, the lack of dignity. It’s staggering.
I think the correct word is: stupid, and irresponsible.
I’m with you. I loathe him with every fiber of my being. I have a visceral reaction to the mere mention of his name.
When I watched this on the news last night, I was disgusted. How can someone be so cold and heartless as Trump? Nobody even knew anything about who the killers were,but right away, he brings up that the U.S. needs the Travel Ban to stay safe. This tragedy had nothing to do with the US! What a cruel jerk. Think of something other than yourself for once, Trump!
And his travel ban wouldn’t block Brits. And he whines about losing “our rights” if his ban isn’t enforced? What rights, exactly, are we losing without his ban? His ban that violates constitutional rights?
Light purple — you are losing the right to hold concerts that aren’t surrounded by many security people — so maybe the next (insert your favorite musical act here) will never get off the ground because in their early years their populariy never allowed them to get ticket prices that could cover the security. You are losing tourism money. You might lose your Dad…your Daughter. After all, many already have. Sorry, I guess I am assuming you are English… But then not really. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness …how would you stop the rats from their constant nibbling? No borders? A big old hug?
He is an awful excuse for a human being. Plain and simple.
Tate, I am with you on that one.
On the plus side, he just destroyed the appeal to the Supreme Court regarding his travel ban. He was arguing that that it was not, in fact, a ban. His tweet last night killed that portion of the appeal. Good job, moron!
Yes, I say keep him tweeting, as painful as it is for our place in the world. We have to get him out, or it all goes to hell anyway. The day he goes quiet the media will go on about how “presidential” this criminal acts. Resist!
He’s disgusting and an embarrassment.
Ariana has indeed handled this with more grace and humanity than Bigly. He’s utterly incapable, a f$@cking monster. I’m in a rage again.
Not surprised about Trump’s reaction. Figured he’d be craven enough to exploit it. He would exploit anything and will.
Not an Ariana Grande fan, but my goodness she is handling this with grace and dignity. And for trump, what a disgrace that he would use a tragedy to push his sick agenda.
The one love concerto is being screened by BBC 1 tonight. Can’t wait to watch it. Props to Arianna for doing it and visiting her fans. She’s a very strong and compassionate young woman.
Also FUCK trump for using this tragedy to push his racist and ignorant agenda.
Me too, lookiing forward to watching it, thats my Sunday evening sorted, hope everything goes to plan , and everyone has a great time.
Trump’s tweet insulting London’s mayor was especially disgusting. If this had been an attack by white nationalists, he’d be saying nothing.
He must be filled with glee he has this to distract from Russia.
Yes- its even more appalling as Khan is our first Muslim Mayor. The racist undertones was disgusting.
Considering this vile creature, I am not sure I would even call these “undertones” of racism.
Yes. I’m furious.
As are many of us.
I think it’s just endlessly embarrassing to be either British or American at the moment, to be quite honest.
SIGH.
Wait… Trump did WHAT ?
He tweeted this this morning.
“At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is “no reason to be alarmed!”
@Tate, thank you. May is bad enough, we don’t need his contributions too.
It was a misquote – Khan was saying that we shouldn’t be alarmed by the extra police presence following the Manchester attack, not that we shouldn’t be alarmed full stop. I have to say, I don’t expect any better from Trump. But it does hurt that millions of his supporters presumably agree with him. I had always thought that US conservatives thought more highly of this country.
It was a misquote??? fml….Trump is sooooo stupid.
Whatever supporters he has left are basically brain dead and lap up whatever garbage he throws at them.
He’s also released a statement about Trump’s comment, basically he’s got more important things to worry about atm:
https://twitter.com/mattchorley/status/871361532126429184
He is a pathetic excuse for a human being, and the fact that he was made President is even more pathetic.
He was completely silent when an alt-right Trump supporter killed a bunch (6?) Muslim men in a mosque in Quebec City. When questioned, Kellyanne said he’s busy and can’t be expected to comment on everything. Ok.
Spicer 1st commented about the Qc shooting by saying that this is why the US need a ban… That was when Fox News and co were trying to frame it as an attack made by a muslim.
And let’s not forget he was mute about the Portland stabbing too. It took him days to respond and when he did, it was through the Presidential twitter account, not DT so you can be sure it was written by some low-level intern. White nationalists murdering people will get no outrage from Trump
Props to the concert going ahead. So much respect for those doing this.
The little donut licker has gained a lot of respect with her handling of this whole tragic situation. She has really stepped up and shown who she is when it counts. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families effected. Heartbreaking.
yes, she licked donuts in a donut shop! but has matured years beyond trump and is treating these tragedies with gravity and compassion and support to the affected. meanwhile trump treats these events as if they are high school football events where he can continue to wave his fist in the air for his team.
Donut licking has now been put into perspective😋 Seriously, I couldn’t stand her but she has behaved admirably.
Same here, Tulip Garden. Thought she was a Beiberesque waste of space, but she’s quite brave and has some compassion too.
Ari, as 20 something year old, has shown more dedication, love, respect, bravery, dignity, and determination to do good, in the last week than the president has in his entire term. Maybe his entire life.
Ariana is showing dignity, strength and compassion, more power to her.
Hugs and prayers to the British people today and I am so sorry the resident of our White House is behaving in such an offensive manner. I offer my condolences to your nation and a special apology to the Mayor of London.
And as for Trump, the complete lack of an adult response, the cruelty and insensitivity in the series of tweets that began with the retweeting of the Drudge report last night and continues this morning with his attack on the Mayor of London, who has far more important things to do than to deal with the orange turd, his promotion of GUNS at this time, only illustrates why he must be removed from office as soon as possible. And he has yet to acknowledge the terrorist attacks in Kabul that have claimed the lives of 97 people in the past four days.
100% agree with everything you said.
As much as I don’t agree with Mike Pence I do think he would handle situations like these far more responsibly and with more grace than Trump. I mean almost anyone would. Gah. It’s getting harder and harder to endure having a toddler in charge.
Thank you.
And let’s not forget that Trump hasn’t filled all important State Dept. positions which are crucial to keeping American citizens safe while abroad.
Ariana Grande is doing the right thing for her fans and for the world. I feel terribly sad for the families and lives so senselessly destroyed by the concert attack and also the most recent Kabul and London Bridge attacks. Someone above mentioned that they’re also suspicious that these attacks are coming as both May and Tr*mp seek to consolidate right-wing power, which we know is beneficial to Putin. I believe he is funding everything to feed chaos and division. I attended the March for Truth rally in Nashville yesterday. We must find out what is going on and stop this global madness!
What President Dumby doesn’t know is that most of these terrorists were actually born the country they are attacking. The Paris terrorists all born in France, but they don’t identify as french. What good does turning our back on refugees do to us?
Facts don’t matter to Trump. Of course the rest of us know the terrorists are attacking in their own countries, but Trump tweets his assumptions right away.
Does want to add the UK and France to his Travel Ban too?
This exactly. The travel ban will do jack.
This. And the same goes for most pretty much all terrorist attacks on US soil except for 9/11: all US citizens. And none of the countries that 9/11 terrorists came from are listed in the travel ban… Where’s the logic there?
Damn girl! This had the potential to be so traumatizing for her as an artist and the attendees to just hide away forever but way to rise to the occasion and set the example Ari!
Trump continues to shame us. Using this attack to push his agenda even BEFORE offering our support. The USA is much better than Trump. The true patriots are still here and we will stand up.
God Bless this concert.
Off topic: her boots are gorgeous.
S/o to your sneaky Hillary Clinton quote, Kaiser. I see you.
Londonites, I’m so sorry.
I just can wait for Trump to get his karma one day. He is such a despicable person. He disgusts me on so many levels.
Comey testifies next week. Karma could be on its way!!
The TURN OUT is AMAZING.
The energy.
I started tearing up at several points, but this is definitely not a somber concert, I have an immense amount of respect for Ariana for doing this.
Have a wonderful time!!
+10000.
Hats of to her. The concert is brilliant. I think even more poignant following the events of last night.
Seriously, she’s handled all of this beautifully.
+1000 to this comment.
It would have been completely understandable, even natural, for her to have retreated from the public eye for a while because she’s a victim of the attack too – but she’s shown incredible strength and grace in pulling this together in such a short time, and refusing to be cowed. Huge respect to Ariana for this.
All UK friends, right now on CNN there is an example of the best of your country. A man named Richard Angell is describing the attack in the restaurant and praising police and other first responders. Incredibly articulate and passionate Londoner!
Currently watching the show. Amazing.
Very well done Ariana. That was a great concert and tribute.
Well, so much for Trump not exploiting this to promote a xenophobic/racist agenda. Like with his comment about ‘Mexicans’ and rape, (don’t even have to touch the hypocrisy there, on top of everything else wrong with that comment) we’re seeing more and more that he and his supporters only care about these kind of violent acts when they can be used as weapons against the people they want to persecute (or when a thirsty comedian targets the wrong person).
Well done Manchester for not being cowed by fear. And I hope the same applies to this week’s election. One of the sad things about this attack is that it’s actually being discussed whether the election should go ahead or be postponed. Of course it should go ahead exactly as planned – to do otherwise would be giving them exactly what they want. Here’s hoping for a huge turnout.
Love and best wishes to all in the UK, I stand with all of you, and hope those injured get better soon. RIP to the deceased…
In case it doesn’t get any clearer, I condemn any terrorism!
I always thought Arianna was a nasty little twit. However, she’s handled everything with extraordinary compassion and bravery. I kind of love her, now. I wish Lady GaGa would have done an appearance. And boo, Madonna.