Embed from Getty Images
I don’t know exactly why, but I don’t find Ariana Grande as calculating as some of you do. I think she’s an opportunist sure, and that she’s making specific moves for her career, but don’t we all do that? She’s not dropping blind item songs or feuding with other artists. She’s clear about whom she’s singing about and she uses names. She mines her personal life for her lyrics, but she’s open about it, it’s not like she’s playing games to get us to talk about her. Maybe I’m naive, but I like her.
That’s why I find it somewhat genuine that she stepped in to support and defend Pete Davidson after he revealed that he was bothered by trolls on Instagram. Ariana dumped Pete nearly two months ago and she moved on spectacularly by just killing it with a hit single about her exes. Then she dropped the video on Friday and it was the most viral video ever. It broke the record for views in 24 hours on YouTube. That must have brought more mean commenters to Pete Davidson’s Instagram because he posted that he was being bothered by people. He wrote that he’d been “online bullied and in public by people for 9 months” and that “no matter how hard the Internet tries to make me kill myself I won’t.” Pete has been open about his history of suicidal thoughts and borderline personality disorder and it was worrying. Ariana posted a message to her Instagram stories in support of Pete yesterday. She wrote “I will always have irrevocable love for him.”
i know u already know this but i feel i need to remind my fans to please be gentler with others. i really don’t endorse anything but forgiveness and positivity. i care deeply about pete and his health. im asking you to please be gentler with others, even on the internet. i’ve learned thru my own mistakes not to be reactive on socials so i do understand. but you truly don’t know what anybody is experiencing ever. regardless of what they choose to display on social media or how they may appear in public. i can promise u that. so please let whatever point you’re trying to make go. I will always have irrevocable love for him and if you’ve gotten any other impression from my recent work, you might have missed the point.
[Instagram stories via hot new hip hop]
That was nice, but she had to write something like that or people would accuse her of being cold to him. Later, Ari responded to a fan by saying that she’s blocked by Pete and hasn’t seen any of the bullying against him. She surely saw his post because it was widely reported and that’s what she was responding to, but I believe her that she didn’t see the messages that bothered him. It’s unclear what that was anyway. Here’s her message via E!
there’s nothing left to say…. pic.twitter.com/IY5WN1mz5K
— mona (@arianashijabi) December 3, 2018
I admire how she manages to be so gracious and kind but also makes it clear that Pete is being petty and blocking her. She had to know this message would go public. Ari is definitely an opportunist, but again I admire that. She owned this whole mess and used it to further her career. Plus that song is just so damn cute.
photos credit: Getty, via Instagram, WENN
I dunno. He mentioned their failed engagement not even directly on SNL and she had a fit. She released a song and video implying Pete has a big Penis . It’s pretty hypocritical. She is for sure an opportunist. But good on her for telling her crazy fans to back off instead of encouraging them.
Right before they broke up (and it’s possible they had already broken up and hadn’t made it public), he made some offensive jokes about the Manchester Bombing and her birth control. He also was the first one to name drop her when they broke up. People are acting like Ariana started this pettiness, but she wasn’t the first one to engage.
I believe both of them are being petty and no one deserves to get bullied, but Pete’s post about bullying seemed like more of an insincere tactic to come at Ariana when her video just came out instead of an honest attempt to raise mental health awareness imo. Perhaps I’m biased, as I witnessed a dynamic between a good friend and her ex while he would start passive aggressive shit and then act like he was above the fray when she responded—and this whole thing very much reminds me of that type of relationship/break up.
Also, while Celebitchy covered it, I don’t recall most of the media coming to Arianna’s aid when she had to turn off her IG comments because Mac Miller fans were writing death threats and blaming her for his death—which also goes to show how very differently women and men are covered in the media.
He probably just wants to stop being trolled and told to kill himself on the internet. I don’t know if it was about mental health awareness raising as much as “Please leave me alone, I am done with this”
I think the thing is- neither of them are being INTENTIONALLY petty.
I think they just both cope differently. He copes with off color jokes – he’s said he’s very much into the dark humor thing, which does tend to be a coping mechanism. And I get that, because I lean into that when I’m feeling like things are out of my control.
And she copes with music. I don’t think she thought of the BDE part of the video as a slam or anything – I think it was in her mind a little boost for his ego.
I think maybe – had Mac not died suddenly like that – they might have lasted. They both have been dealing with a lot, and it just crumbled under the stress. She was being treated horrendously by Mac’s fans. But at the same time – because of that – she maybe could have proactively done something about hers. I mean she obviously felt horrible because of the maggots that were blaming her for Mac’s death – and her fans are quite rabid as well. Knowing that – it might have been in everyone’s best interest to issue a statement about not going after him or whatever. She has a huge fan base, he doesn’t have anything comparable to that.
I don’t think it was necessarily insincere, either. I think he’s asking for it all to stop – but also putting it out there that it won’t get the best of him. And if some kid going through similar crap sees that and it helps them – then it’s worth it.
I don’t understand the people who seem to think his post was about coming at Ariana. Does it not occur to anyone that probably with the release of the song and video he’s facing more and more people making comments?
Also, she defended those Manchester bombing comments. I also didn’t really understand the outrage over the joke about the birth control – it was pretty clearly a joke, but even this site compared it to Ian Somerhalder ACTUALLY throwing out his wife’s birth control, which…is not the same thing.
I think the coverage of Pete’s behavior vs. her behavior has actually been pretty hypocritical. He made one joke in a teaser for SNL and she flipped out and so did the media – she released a whole song where she name checks him, and is praised for it. His joke wasn’t really rude to her, and her song isn’t really rude to him, but they’re both using their relationship as fodder for their jobs, and only one seems to be acceptable.
The rudeManchester Bombing joke was before there were ever together. The birth control joke was on SNL after the engagement. The info is online and easy to find.
To clarify the timeline re him ‘name dropping her first’, he made an indirect, self depreciating joke about their failed engagement in the SNL promo after which she subtweeted him saying for someone who claims to hate relevancy he sure loved clinging to it. She then dropped thank u, next which obviously has a direct reference to him on the night that SNL episode aired and during that episode he made a statement that it was nobody’s business, things just sometimes don’t work out, that she was a wonderful strong person and he genuinely wished her the best. Many people at the time pointed out the hypocrisy of her criticizing him for using his personal life in his comedy when she does the same in her music, and they both have the right to do so.
Again, to clarify the timeline, the joke about Manchester was made before they got together and she defended it and his dark humour at the time.
I also remember a number of articles and think pieces defending Ariana after Mac’s death about how she should not be blamed for it (which is, of course, absolutely right).
He has always talked openly about his struggles with mental illness, suicidal thoughts and this statement is in keeping with what he said in the past, I don’t think it’s an attempt to detract from Ariana’s success.
Ariana felt like she could do and say what she wanted because she was the star in the relationship. Good for Pete that this ended now. He may not realize it at the moment, but he would’ve always been second best and treated as such in this relationship.
I have said it before, but I truly don’t understand how Ariana’s misstep of a tweet – which she deleted – is being treated so harshly. People have feelings and express emotions when they break up. All her other reactions have been compassionate, empathetic, and measured. Robots, all y’all.
@alissa. Pete is a comedian and I think people forget that. The people getting upset over it aren’t involved in the situation. I think he should be able to make jokes about their relationship, as it was ridiculous, and she should be able to make songs about it, it’s a two way street. I totally agree with everything you said. He made one joke and she said he was using her to stay relevant, but than she goes and writes that song, includes him in the video, and makes reference to the size of his Erwin’s is praising her for that and bashing him for a couple of jokes. I think people don’t understand how comedy works anymore. And can you imagine if he had made a joke about her genitals? People would lose their monds
Not sure where my comment went, but he absolutely talked about her genitals.
A comment doesn’t make up for actions. Of COURSE Pete blocked her, she was a baby diva and dismissive of his feelings. I think she should try to actually make friends, get over herself.
I think it’s funny how she tossed in the tid-bit that he blocked her in same sentence that she will always love and support him etc. A little passive-aggressive but I get it. I see you, Ariana. I see you.
This! She starts off with the sweet, baby voice stuff and then boom right at the end- her REAL point. Passive Agressive 101. She’s got a long way to go.
Exactly. She is not a nice person, her friendship with Nicki Minaj tells me everything I need to know about her.
Don’t forget the repeated use of ‘forgiveness’ in the statement and the message, implying he has done something to her that she has forgiven him for! She is definitely not dumb.
That too!
She did the same to Mac when she was starting with Pete, throwing him under the bus for his substance abuse but at the same time being oh-so-supportive-and-forgiving or some shish like that
Did she really? That’s awful! I only got into Ariana gossip when the whole Pete thing started so I’m not privy to her behavior before that.
She did not throw anyone under the bus. After Mac wrecked his car and got a DUI, people were blaming her for it. She responded and said she prayed for and supported his sobriety. She didn’t reveal anything that wasn’t obvious. And in hindsight, maybe her remarks should have been taken more seriously.
I’m pretty sure he has bpd not bipolar. Also there is nothing petty about him blocking her. I imagine its incredibly difficult to move forward when she’s everywhere on social media. It’s ok to not want to see every minute detail about her and their breakup on his feed.
There have been so many times when I have sat with a friend through a breakup while they cry and question every post the person makes and I’m like “BLOCK HIM, PLEASE!” It’s not petty, it’s needed sometimes especially for the person who got broken up with.
I agree about the blocking. I’ve been married for over 14 years so I have never had to block an ex before but if I end a toxic relationship, friend/family, then I will not hesitate to block them. I get it.
That was my thought as well. Plus I follow her, and she’s been (rightfully so) promoting thank u next really hard – if I were him, I wouldn’t really want to see all the posts about a song about how she’s grateful for him (and her other exes) but so ready to move on with herself, especially only two months after the relationship ended. It’s probably needed for his mental health.
Yeah I wouldn’t call it petty to block your ex who is constantly putting up pics of the tattoos she’s covering up, and posting about the guy she was with before, plus her fans telling him to kill himself. I’d block her too and jjst try to move on in a healthy way. They are both so young and have so much life ahead of them. I think that’s what young people do when they break up these days, straight to social media
EDIT: I responded to the wrong person! To you, I’ll say, I wouldn’t call it petty to block an ex, period. Break-ups are hard, and even when you stay connected, social doesn’t make it easier, particularly in the first few months.
That’s what I figured, he doesn’t want to see her posts. Shrug?
The people attacking him need to grow up and get their own lives.
It the timeline crazy? She’s going to marry him then they break up and 2 months later she has a huge song and complex video out about her ex loves including Pete?
Seems very calculating. But maybe because for 2 months following my break ups at that age I was day drinking and wallowing not thinking about my next hit.
My feelings exactly. This song about learning from exes would ring more true if she hadn’t dumped Pete, then run immediately to capitalize on the publicity. She just put out a new album too, so she made the decision to rush this song and combine the Sweetener/thank u, next tours because they were released so closely together. This is stone cold trashy imo.
Not to mention she was pissed that he mentioned her on snl promo, yet says his name and penis size in her new video? She’s using the breakup more than he is. Don’t like this girl at all. Don’t get the hype. She seems like a mean girl.
I don’t think it’s crazy or shady. She could have been working on the song already and just added one line in there about Pete once they broke up? Also, you know how sometimes when you’re really upset you get super productive – like cleaning the house or something b/c you’re so agitated? Maybe for her she just couldn’t deal with her emotions and needed to get in the studio and process it that way. I give her benefit of the doubt, mostly b/c I’m relieved she came to her senses and dropped a relationship that wasn’t serving her!
It the timeline crazy? He’s going to marry her then they break up and 2 months later he has a viral skit and video out about his ex loves including Ariana?
Seems very calculating. But maybe because for 2 months following my break ups at that age I was day drinking and wallowing not thinking about my next skit.
I’m genuinely confused – what skit are you talking about?
SNL monologue/skit/whatever. Which was absolutely fine – I have no issues with Pete. I’m just screaming into the void of the insane misogyny around here that has already-famous Ariana gets into a relationship where she is literally tattooing herself with an SNL cast-member’s name to raise her profile, while he is a saint who would obviously never act out of self-interest. We all hate women, repeatedly, every day. I’ve had 34 years to get on board, and I’m gonna internalize this any day now, hopefully.
It’s not petty to block someone on social media.
agreed. It’s sometimes literally, a life saver.
No, petty is calling out an ex for mentioning you in an SNL promo, when you have your own plans to use that relationship for publicity and huge record sales. Ari is a piece of work.
Pete has mental health issues and suidicidal inclinations. If he blocked her, he was doing what was best for himself.
It’s petty to actually tell everyone that that person’s been blocking you.
On one hand, she asked her fans to leave him alone but at the same time made an awful comment.
Also – the lie about not knowing what was in his message, if she didn’t read, she wouldn’t be sending a counter-message…
It’s honestly so common that mentioning it isn’t calling someone out for it.
Agreed too. Gotta do it, I think.
I don’t see how blocking her after a breakup is being petty. Blocking someone after a breakup can really help you let go of them, especially someone you might be tempted to contact or obsessively view their pictures. The fact that she mentioned that she was blocked was exceedingly petty in my opinion. I also think that she’s been exceedingly petty this whole breakup. She publicly released a video in which she writes “sorry I dipped by his picture” and writes a song capitalizing on their failed relationship, yet somehow is angry when he makes a joke about their failed engagement. She’s only speaking up about him now because others have pointed out that she’s completely allowed her rabid fans to rip him to shreds and spread malicious rumors about him without her trying to defend him. It looked really bad that Scooter came to Pete’s defense before she did. She’s been so petty and bitter I’m not sure why anyone is cheering her on.
I am actually really proud of him for blocking her. It removes the temptation to check in on her, and it prevents him from being contacted before he’s ready. I think it’s probably the healthiest thing he’s done.
This is actually at least the second time Ariana has come to his defense when people were being nasty to him online. Unless a celebrity is actively encouraging that type of behavior, I don’t hold them accountable for the nastiness of their fans on social media anymore. It’s good when famous people make public statements to discourage that kind of behavior, but ultimately it’s the fan’s responsibility to not use the internet to be animalistic.
I also believe that part of the reason why people feel entitled to act like that on social media is because whenever a famous person does speak out about some of the nastiness they’re getting, (be it death threats, misogyny, other calls for harm, etc,) the automatic response is “You signed up for it! You put yourself out there! Maybe avoid garnering attention!” Intentionally or not, this kind of response just normalizes bad behavior.
I mean maybe she understands that blocking is common, and therefore wasn’t actually calling him out so much as mentioning a really mundane thing?
I’m glad she stepped up and said something, for once. “Fan culture” has become so mindblowingly toxic since social media became a thing. I’m not saying any fanbase is cute, but I’ve always gotten the impression Ariana’s was particularly toxic. So I’m glad she called them out for once. I don’t think this will stop the hate thrown his way, but it at least shows Ariana doesn’t support all of this.
Fan culture is so messed up. I can’t imagine telli someone to kill their over all this silliness. I get being an uber fan of a band, musician, artist, anything really…but is it worth losing your humanity over?
Agree 100%. In an extreme case- for example, someone is being a racist p.o.s. or promoting violence, I wouldn’t have one critical word to say about a fanbase who decided to gang up on a public figure with that kind of talk. But other than that type of situation, if your being a fan of someone has you wishing death on people, you’re the problem.
I absolutely think she’s calculating! She’s a celebrity doing a genius job of controlling the narrative and promoting herself.
I just don’t like that she’s playing this naive girl when in realty she is playing this situation out to her advantage like a boss. Own it, Ari.
She’s preaching about nothing but love, but she’s doing some pretty passive aggressive things. In fact, I thought it was cruel that she was so over the top with Pete on social media after she broke up with Mac. Now I feel bad for Pete. Come on, covering his dad’s tribute tattoo with a dog name? That seems mean. Cover it with something else!
I love her latest song, I think some of her female empowerment messages are awesome, but i don’t like her hypocrisy. I think she should cut the “who me?!” act.
Also, I hope she keeps her next relationship more private.
“In fact, I thought it was cruel that she was so over the top with Pete on social media after she broke up with Mac.”
Why would it be her responsibility to be low-key about her new relationship for the sake of her ex? This is something I hardly ever see asked of male celebrities- except for the ones who were married and/or had children from the previous relationship.
DP, I also think she’s calculating. And this support post totaly comes off as passive-agressive to me. “I’m all about forgiveness/There is something to forgive….I haven’t seen it cause I’m blocked./ He blocked me!!… and so on”.
Meh, I hate people like that. So fake.
She’s like Taylor Swift.
They’re great at attacking and using others but it’s of course never their intention to do that, they’re just “expressing themselves through art”.
I used to like Ariana, but her real personality is impossible to hide with this amount of exposure.
Jeez. Give me a “consious uncoupling” any day. This is turning into such a messy trainwreck.
I feel like Gwyneth’s fans and Ari’s fans are a little different, and that is the problem, no?
I understand why he blocked her. Sometimes, in order to move on, you have to cut them out completely. Maybe when he is over it, he can be friends with her, but he already has to see her in the media every day-so maybe he wanted to cut her out of his IG feed at least.
I appreciate you explaining it nicely. I really don’t get how blocking works and thought you could just unfollow them, but I guess you see if your friends like something, even if you don’t follow that person. I didn’t consider that angle of it.
I agree, and for that reason, also don’t think it’s a big deal that she mentioned it. Social media culture is its own thing and both of them are young enough that they basically grew up with it as just being part of life.
They really loved each other, it didn’t work out, the whole thing played out in social media… that’s just how it works. They were both hurt and reactive at first. Which is also how it works. Other people don’t need to use it as an excuse to be terrible. She got attacked for the breakup too, and blamed for Mac’s death, so she knows what it’s like. I think her post is genuine.
Also, the BDE thing was a huge deal last summer, so at this point she’s just referencing what everyone has already heard and made fun of. I think people see what they want to see, when in reality, people are a lot more complicated. No one is all good or all bad. Well, almost no one is all bad, except for nazis. To hell with them! Everyone else, I’m live and let live.
I really don’t like her, she made a big deal about not wanting to talk about the break up and send her fans and friends to say they were gonna beat Pete’s a$$ after he made a stupid joke about HIMSELF on snl, all to promote that annoying song, knowing damn well Pete has been bullied his whole life, she knows exactly what she is doing. Also she just had to mention he blocked her lol. I see your Ariana.
Agreed. I hate to think badly about people but I’ve had trouble thinking much about her since that donut licking thing.
I have a hard time letting that go too… she was actually spitting on donuts that were going to be sold! Who would Ever do that? Disgusting.
The donut licking thing was the first time I had even heard of her, and you know what they say about first impressions? Lol
yeah, her Twitter responses to that joke included lyrics from the song, which came out pretty quickly afterwards – so it seems like she had the song written and planned already, so I don’t see how she could be mad at him for making the joke.
I don’t find it petty to block on social media, particularly after a bad breakup. Sometimes, you really need distance after something like that to move on.
Why is it petty for him to block her? From what we can gather she broke off their engagement suddenly, not because of anything he did. Maybe he just didn’t want to deal with her posts because he’s hurt. He literally said ‘we’re not going to break up’ on SNL the Saturday before they did break up – he wasn’t expecting this and it’s okay for him to take whatever steps he can to heal. It’s very easy to jump into the ‘Thank you, next.’ mentality when you did the dumping.
Ariana isn’t as innocent as you think, CB. There are a ridiculous amount of stories out there that detail her being nasty and rude toward people. I think she’s tried to use her platform in a better way lately and I’m glad she sent this message to her fans but that doesn’t negate the fact that she’s been known to be mean-spirited.
He wrote this post because he was on a date at a restaurant and one of the servers turned on thank you next and tried to video tape his reaction. That was his breaking point, it was not an attempt to throw shade at Ariana. How is it petty to block someone that may have hurt you, maybe it was best for his mental health not to have access to her and her posts. I like Ariana but everyone needs to stop viewing everything she does as amazing
That’s great that she’s defending him but I don’t think her opportunism is cute. It may not be calculated but it IS tacky. I havent watched the video or even heard the song all the way through. I simply don’t care to. It’s funny to me how people have ragged on Pete for doing essentially the same thing she’s done. I mean she has a song called Pete on her album.
I think it’s fine to block an ex on social media after a breakup. You have to take care of yourself and step back from the person. I don’t blame Pete for doing it at all.
I think a lot of the hate that is thrown Ariana’s direction is slightly misogynistic. Male celebrities have PR snafus all the time (hello, Johnny Depp) yet they are still venerated in the public eye. I think most of the general public still likes Johnny Depp and couldn’t get a rat’s arse about his drunkenness, instability, and violence. Yet I still hear this donut story from five years ago thrown about as a legitimate reason as to why people don’t like Ari. She was around 20 when that happened, practically a child. She’s only 25 now and she’s under intense public scrutiny; I don’t begrudge her (or Pete) in the slightest.
Twenty years old, being of age to vote, drive, marry, pay taxes, serve in the armed forces etc etc, is a child? Young, sure, but actual children know better than to lick or spit on food that isn’t theirs so even if she were a “child” it would have been unacceptable. It IS a legitimate reason not to like her. That “incident” as well as the story of her ranting about how she hates her fans and they’re disgusting to her from around the same time showed her real character to me, and now I will never trust anything she does. Same with Justin Bieber, who spat on his fans and egged his neighbor’s house and abandoned every animal he adopted. (Funny they have the same manager, a grown man named Scooter.)
It’s not about what gender she is, it’s about her behavior. I know generally men are able to get away with more, I recognize that, I’m not blind and one would have to be. But this isn’t about that, this is completely about her. She’s just not the angel she reworked her PR image to present herself as.
grumpyoldwoman I agree. Plus it was in 2015 so she was 22, hardly a child.
I agree that she was definitely old enough to know better, but it’s water under the bridge now. Plus, two of my friends and I are still convinced that she was probably high when she did that. The other story you mentioned though has never been verified and is most likely bs. The thing with famous women is that it only takes one or two occasions of less than nice or poor behavior for the rumor mill to run with it.
Can’t she just shut up and go away for a few months?
Can’t he?
He’s been pretty mia on social media and hasn’t really been making appearances. He’s already been laying low but people won’t leave him alone.
No fan of Pete but in his defense, blocking may be the only way he can move on. I know someone whose girlfriend dumped him. His ex wanted to stay friends but he was too hurt about her decision so blocking was the only way he could lick his wounds.
She capitalized on him., tbh. I don’t get how Swift is lowest of the low for her songs, bit Grande makes “Thank you, next” right after her split, puts pictures of her exes in video, and that is hailed as some great artistry.
Ugh.
My personal opinion is that he was all gor it, but she was very aware that their relationahip had an expiration date.
And tbh, they are both not great on social media…and media as a whole: he with the stupid birth control jokes, she with…honestly, everything. Don’t forget her deleted twitter comments when he made one indirect, totally non-offensive joke on SNL about their breakup…and then she turned around and released Thank you, next.
IDK, they were both pretty obnoxious to me before the breakup. Now, I get the impression he is honest in his dealings with all of this, while she just sees nect bussiness opportunity. And I find that totally offputting.
Not a fan of hers, although I know she’s a pop star, etc. Not sure who this Pete guy is. But I like to read the gossip and from what I’ve seen, she’s very adept at handling herself with dignity. Very Queen.
Blocking is the healthy thing to do.
Pete seems to be handling all of this pretty well, all things considered.
This old gal is a new Pete D fan!It’s probably the Mom in me coming out.
I don’t agree that she’s not petty nor that she’s always kind to him or that she always upfront . She literally subtweeted about him when that SNL thing happened and pretty much called him irrelevant., which was a bitchy thing to do. Also at this point she’s used him and her private life in her career far more than he ever did. Which is fine but don’t be petty when he does the same.
And note that she only comes out with this statement after he told everyone to leave him alone she could have done that when she released the single. He already deleted his Insta after mean messages when they were together so she knows he doesn’t cope well with it. Also she didn’t need to say that he’s blocked her because you know the fans will troll him with that info. She should have just left at asking them to leave him alone. The whole he blocked me info seems manipulative and passive aggressive. The feeling I get is he’s flawed but at least he’s honest she tries to put on this kind act but it doesn’t come across as sincere, it seems very much like everything is business and PR.