Ariana Grande’s late ex boyfriend, Mac Miller, was nominated for a posthumous Grammy for his last album, Swimming. That Grammy went to Cardi B for Invasion of Privacy. Ariana was of course at home during the ceremony because she chose not to go rather than meet producer demands that she not perform her number one hit, 7 Rings. She actually won her first Grammy last night, Best Pop Vocal Album for Sweetener. It was her sixth nomination. Ariana expressed gratitude for that, a video of her thanking them is below, but she was also really upset that Mac lost the Grammy to Cardi. She tweeted about it, the word “trash” was used, and people dragged her for possibly demeaning Cardi B’s win. Ariana wrote that she wasn’t referring to Cardi and that she was upset on behalf of Mac’s parents, who were invited to the ceremony. Then she deleted all that. Here’s what she wrote:
Right after Cardi B was announced as the winner for her album No Privacy, Grande tweeted (and then quickly deleted) a few reaction tweets, allegedly writing, “trash” in one, “f–k” in another and then “literal bulls–t” in a third.
She also deleted a response to a fan, saying, “THEY INVITED HIS PARENTS OUT. NO.”
Then Grande responded to a fan who tweeted they didn’t think the “7 Rings” singer was shading Cardi with her reactionary tweets. “nothing to do w her. good for her. i promise. i’m sorry.”
And when another fan called Cardi “trash,” Grande defended the “Money” rapper.
“she’s not at all and that’s not what i meant and u know that,” she responded.
I’ll talk about Ariana’s reaction in a moment but there’s a really weird twist to this story. Mac Miller’s mom, Karen Meyers, went to the Grammy’s with Cazzie David, Pete Davidson’s ex girlfriend from right before he dated Ariana. I can’t wrap my mind around this but E! reports that Cazzie contacted Karen on social media after Karen’s son passed and that’s how they’re friends. Ok, that’s interesting.
Ariana should know better, that’s all I’ll say. If you interrupt someone’s win, on Twitter or on stage like Kanye, to say that someone else is more deserving, you are disparaging the work of the person who did win. She tweeted “trash!” That sounds like she’s calling Cardi trash. Ari is one of those artists who takes two steps forward and one step back all the time. While I appreciate that she’s so open she should maybe think a little more before she tweets.
Also she posted a series of photos and videos of her intended Grammys dress by Zac Posen. I love his work but I’m not sure about this dress. She usually just puts up one photo or she could have made this a slideshow. I get the sense she’s mad she didn’t go to the ceremony, but at least she wasn’t there to show a reaction when Cardi won.
Embed from Getty Images
For once I agree with Ariana
Honestly, I believe her when she says she wasn’t trashing Cardi. I agree that she should have thought her comments through, but you can tell that she’s still (obviously) mourning Mac.
So far she’s been nothing but positive towards Cardi B and has roasted misogynists for making equally or less toxic comments about other girls in the industry, so I totally believe she wasn’t referring to her. Hopefully Cardi B knows that. Still, even though her feelings are valid and understandable, she should have been more careful, as it does kind of detract from Cardi B’s win.
the way she handled that was straight GARBAGE but honestly she’s not wrong, just in that inviting his parents when he wasn’t being awarded is mad f*cked. why put them through that? idk that’s just me.
They invited his parents to be on hand in case he won. That wasn’t a guarantee that he’d win. I don’t know why people think that it was.
This
And really, it’s an honor to be nominated. Maybe his Mom wanted to be there, because he wasn’t. It’s not always about winning or not.
“Super tarnished”?
She shouldn’t have tweeted anything and she knows it, which is why she deleted everything she put out there. People love the cat fight narrative but it’s clear that she was just reacting out of emotion to the fact that Mac lost, she wasn’t trying to dimish Cardi’s win.
I cannot stand that huge ponytail. Pop artists like herself are usually pretty good with changing up their look but Grande has been clinging to this horse tail since she became a famous singer. It’s SO tired/dated, it overwhelms her tiny frame, and it does nothing good for her. It’s time for her to get a good hair stylist–someone who will step in and lock her awful extensions away somewhere so she can’t find them.
Agree , her hair always looks the exact damn same ! It’s not even a cute style and honestly makes her looks kinda goofy because all you see is that dumb ponytail. How great would she look with shorter hair ? She’s such a pretty woman but her style does nothing for her .
I think the paedo audience she always caters to likes it so that’s why she keeps it.
@Gareelana: She does not cater to pedophiles. The fact that you think rape prevention is a matter of women avoiding certain clothing choices is your problem. There is abuser-pandering trash here, but it’s certainly not Cardi B or Ariana Grande. #LeaveYourReligion, I’m bored.
She had a bob just a short time ago and she looked so cute (minus the dumb filter): https://www.instagram.com/p/BqOJmzmgNtl/
I guess this is what her hair really looks like but she chooses to attach the horse tail when she performs and makes public appearances. I don’t get it. She looks fresh and pretty with the shorter hair.
Agree about the pony tail. It’s been years! Ugh.
I hope she wasn’t calling Cardi trash, but what was it in reference to?? 🤔🤔
I took it as “this was a trash call” i.e. the decision to reward Cardi and not Mac. Again, she shouldn’t have said it and I think she knows as much now. There was a way to express disappointment (which she is entitled to feel) but she should have congratulated Cardi FIRST.
Tweeting about your disappointment is nowhere near going up on stage and interrupting the winning speech.
It’s stating an opinion (and for every act that ever wins, there are people who believe somebody’s more deserving). It’s not a nice thing to do to a fellow artist, but she’s not really ruining Cardi’s moment here.
Totally agree, Nanny. Like her or hate Taylor, what Kanye did was the worst meanest rudest thing. It was inconceivable and NOTHING like critiquing in media (new, social, or otherwise).
And he did it twice! He did it to Beck too
So what if they invited his parents? He wouldn’t have been guaranteed a win if he were alive; his parents were his proxy.
And the only trash in this situation is Ariana. Who does that? She’s a little over the top with this Mac Miller thing, especially considering that they weren’t together when he died.
She’s a rude whiny little monster who gets coddled for some reason.
I thought we were against black face? But her whole album is her faking a “Black” voice and manner of speaking. There’s one piece of trash here and it’s her.
Progressify your hate.
I’m generally the only black woman in the spin classes I go to. Arianna is exactly the same as the white instructor who blasts music with the N word, or the little blondes who use their “ghetto voice” when singing songs, exactly like Arianna does .
It’s as disgusting as black face. But it’s damn easy to see who supports that sort of thing around here .
Let me be clear: she is co-opting and mocking my voice, and the voices of my friends, my family. All to sell records.
I’m sorry she’s had personal tragedy. It’s bizarre to suggest that excuses her using her “Black” voice. She may act like a child but she’s a woman.
If only that had been the original concern.
I agree and I don’t get how is she always cut slack: for all the things we’re quick to judge others (for instance, exploiting POc culture, exploiting memory of her ex-boyfriend are just a few), we just find excuses for her.
Oh, although Mac Miller had family and friends who knew him better and longer than Grande, it is crucial that Grande states her opinion and judges what is or isn’t ok related to him…every time.
This was totally stirring up some attention and interjecting herself in the conversation, on expense of Cardi. And that was trashy, and no amount of backtracking can cover that fact up.
The problem with media like Twitter is that it allows you to post your feelings instantly, rather than letting yourself calm down before stating things maturely. This is why *I* don’t have a Facebook or Twitter, since I tend to be an emotional person. It was unfair to Cardi B for her historical moment to be undermined like that, but having known somebody who had an ex commit suicide…well, I can see why it gets to her. There’s a lot of guilt and shame to work through afterwards, regardless of your relationship status.
Albeit, I agree with her that inviting his grieving parents when you have no intention of rewarding him is somewhat messed up. Why put them through that tension and disappointment where his legacy is concerned?
I think it would have been weird if they hadn’t been invited. Can you imagine they announce the nominees for the category and there’s nobody there on his behalf? His parents were there to honour his memory. I’m sure it was meaningful regardless. I doubt it was on their minds whether he would win or not. The public was reminded of their son. I’m sure that was enough.
Let’s not compare anyone to Kanye unless they also storm the stage and disrespectfully steal the spotlight from the winner.
exactly this! Kanye moment it was not!
This! Thank you! It’s nowhere near the same as what Kanye did.
FYI people are saying this dress is designed to look like Cinderella’s dress from the Disney movie. Mac Miller wrote a song about Ariana called ‘Cinderella’ on his album before ‘Swimming’ I think.
That makes sense. The Disney princess look really suits her too. She looks pretty in these pictures.
Cazzie David reaching out to Mac Miller’s family and making friends seems incredibly insane.
Yeah I find that odd too.
yeah I feel the same way. like what was the move there I wonder
Who knows on what grounds did Cazzie and Miller connect prior to his death? Maybe the became friends on the grounds of Grande and Davidson leaving them for each other.
I’m glad Ariana won her grammy. She’s been through a lot, works hard, and the way she released two successful albums in just 6 months is impressive. I still like Sweetener better, but Thank U Next is a good album too. Besides the singles from it that she had already released, The best songs are Ghostin’, Fake Smile, In My Head, and Needy.
In all this, I think it’s interesting to note that every time she “invades” (sorry, English is not my primary language!) a topic, suddendly it all becomes about her.
I’m sorry, I’m having a hard time accepting the implication of a white pop singer commenting (epic) first female winning rap Grammy, asking for more accolades for a white rapper.
And considering the fact she and Miller weren’t together and that I hear more about him from her than from his family, fruends, producers, collaborators…tbh, I’m side-eyeing her, hard. I know everyone will jump at me, but it’s just incredible how she seamlessly incorporated all the Davidson-Miller-Grande context in her album and pr narrative…
i agree with this.
life is for the living.
Not cool that they invited the parents if they set the expectation that he was going to win ….
but she needs to stop with the drama with their poor son, they weren’t even together when he passed. She was ENGAGED to someone else when he passed.. I think her constantly bringing up his death is disrespectful to his REAL FAMILY MEMBERS. She was not his girlfriend, his fiancee, his wife or even his friend when he died. She was just some ex girlfriend that DUMPED HIM. She is NOT family and should stop acting like she was his wifey
She should respectfully stay in her lane.
That’s fair (about the optics her as a white singer detracting from a black rapper’s grammy win to make it about a white rapper). The way she handled this particular situation was wrong.
As for the rest of it, it’s probably hard to have an ex die unexpectedly and to be blamed for it, especially when you were both public figures, right after you get engaged to someone else. She does happen to be close to his family and she did know him since she was 19 (possibly a little younger), so it’s understandable why she might not feel quite ready to stop talking about him. At the same time, it’s got to be hard for his parents too. I wonder if they have mixed feelings about Ariana’s response?
I mean … the miller Davidson narrative is her life, no?
Like I get what you’re saying but that narrative exists because of her and her life and what it did to her. She’s not out here writing songs about Mac’s addiction. She’s writing songs about their relationship and how it relates to her. What else do you expect her to do?
She’s smart. It’s no different than what Cardi put on her album (offset’s cheating) is Taylor Swift’s albums (which she has been equally criticized for).
Not gonna jump on you but I truly don’t understand the comments like “she was not with him when he passed”. I don’t get why that’s relevant.
I can think of one of my exes that I haven’t been with in over a decade that I am still in touch with and consider a friend. I can honestly say that I would be devastated if he died, particularly if it was from a drug overdose.
I would drive myself crazy, wishing that I had done more to help him. Am I in love with my ex because I still care about him? Absolutely not. I’ve moved on and I’m in a fantastic relationship with the love of my life, but I can’t just stop caring about someone completely, simply because we aren’t together anymore. So I find it so bizarre that some people think you can just shut feelings off like a faucet….
Good for you if you can do that, but please recognize that not all of us are like you.
I had an ex boyfriend die from drugs and we had been broken up at the time and were still in contact as friends up to two weeks before he passed.
There comes a point where their death isn’t about you and although you may have been an important friend/ex girlfriend in their life, you need to respect the grief of their FAMILY. Ex girlfriends are not family.
You can’t make their death about YOU and YOUR grief. It’s about respect for the Mac Miller’s family. There is a time and place to share your public grief but Ariana bitching about the grammy’s is disrespectful to his legacy and his family. My advice to Ariana would be – let Mac rest in peace.
If An ex of my child, who was public figure, churned out statement after statement about my (tragically) gone child, I’d be furious.
Grieving and having feelings does not equate to stating them publicly. You can feel in your own private circle. That’s what I’m saying. It’s not one statement, it’s month after month.
Privacy and private sphere is a thing: it’s for personal growth, intimacy, emotional world. Pushing this so hard to public sphere just leaves an impression of other motives for bringing it up.
I mean, I know Miller more as Ariana’s ex who died than an aspiring rapper who died-and this is solely because of media coverage and the fact that he’s usually coming up because Grande mentiones him in her tweet/video/song…whatever.
And yes, she does what Swift does, but we somehow hate Swift, but command Grande. I don’t get it.
Me said it much, much better than I ever could. Yes, exactly what she stated.
Nope, not jumping on you geekychick. She’s everything you said, wrapped in shitty fashion and hair.
Of course, shes mad! She was painted in a bad light by Grammy producers for not kowtowing to their demands. She was not in attendance for her first Grammy win. She was distraught because Mac Millers family were brought out there, likely prepared a speech, and they knew he wasng going to win. Ariana Grande has proven to be a strong minded, intelligent woman. Much like Cardi B. There must be some mutual respect between them. Both Cardi and Ariana vent through these channels and it makes them even more relatable, regardless of their perceived missteps. Your tone-policing is shading you, author, more than it is either of them.
Thank you. This is a great comment.
The fact that Ariana is so close toNicki Minaj willl not go unnoticed by the Cardi gang when they are deciding if she was insulting Cardi. Also how would the organizers know that Mac Miller was not going to win? It is supposed to be a secret until it is announced
But now we’re talking about Cardi’s win in context of Ari’s social media shenanigans. Which takes away from Cardi IMO.
I can’t side-eye her grief for Mac Miller. Clearly, she loved him. She probably hoped he’d work on his issues and they could open a dialogue. They were young and had all the time in the world to see what could be. And then there wasn’t any more time. So much left unsaid, some much never figured out. My heart breaks for her. And I’m not even a fan in any way, shape, or form of hers.
My thoughts exactly. She was engaged to Davidson, but I never got the impression that she was fully over Mac Miller.
I feel like we really glossed over Cazzie in this situation!?!
Right!? That’s what I was saying too. That was like a big red flag to just casually drop there and move on haha. Like there has to be more to that story. ATM it seems pretty suspect to me
I think the fact the mother is friend with Cazzie says a LOT about what Mac Miller’s family thinks of Ariana Grande.
Well I heard Mac’s mom complemented Ariana on her grammy look, and i think they’re still in touch so i doubt there’s bad blood there. I’m still more suspect of Cazzie’s motives ’cause she’s the one that reached out to them. Like i can’t imagine what other link there is other than her ex Pete and Ariana.
I love cardi and this was a historic moment.
But Cardi, too, uses social media emotionally and candidly, right? We don’t critique that. We admire her for it.
Considering the loss of Mac and how it has affected Ari, she deserves a pass here. Give her a break. This wasn’t about Cardi and she went out of her way after the fact to make that clear. It’s about the Grammys consistently taking advantage of artists.
Ari’s gown is beautiful but my first reaction to seeing it is that it was a bridal gown so there’s some more drama to decipher.
I thought Mac’s parents publicly said that if he didn’t win they would want Cardi to win. I like Ariana, but her reacting publicly like that was about her, not about Mac’s parents. Of course she’s allowed to react however, but it doesn’t seem like she really considered them with those comments.
Also can we talk more about Cazzie David being accompaning Mac’s parents? This is super suspect to me. For her to reach out to her ex-boyfriend’s ex-fiance’s ex’s parents… Like what? Why? How do you even start a conversation like that? like, “hey i know you’re mouring your son, but as the ex-girlfriend of the guy who was engaged to your son’s ex, I just want to say…”
I don’t get it. It seems like a move someone not over a relationship would do.
This may be insensitive and I’ve been a fan of Ariana since Victorious, but she can only be the ex in the red dress at Mac Miller’s funeral for so long. You don’t get a pass for being irrationally upset when you were moving on with your life before and well after the ex died. You just don’t. You could have sat there and ate your food and instead you chose to publicly drag your dead ex’s parents into your drama. That’s not cool. With all due respect to Ariana, her relationship at the time of his death was not at the point where it wouldn’t be incredibly tacky for her to be carrying the torch and invoking his name publicly well after his death. It’s fine for her to be emotional, but let his parent’s carry on his legacy and drag his name into public spats if they choose.
I mean … I don’t think that’s what happened. It’s just crazy how you can so see it one way, and I don’t. I don’t mean that in an insulting way, it’s just interesting.
She still follows his mom on instagram and at one point tweeted about the outfit she had made. It seems as though they are still in touch.
She spent holidays with them in pittsburgh, she was friends with him for 6+ years in addition to dating. Feelings are complicated and for everything this girl has gone through, let’s just not police her every feeling?
Public figures get criticized all the time. Ariana made his death and his losing an award about herself and then dragged his parents into by insinuating that they were being used because they were flown out to represent their dead son at an awards ceremony where he was nominated. I’m not going to police her every feeling, but this instance was tacky and incredibly disrespectful to Mac’s parents who now have to deal with these headlines for a week. And that’s not even getting into whether she would have kept the same energy towards the grammys if she didn’t have her own drama with them prior to this.
And tbh, it’s not just her. I will always find it tacky and uncalled for exes outshine the parents in times of grief. If his parents can sit there, clap, and not make a public scene, then Ariana can too.
@CK, I absolutely agree with this in particular:
“I will always find it tacky and uncalled for exes outshine the parents in times of grief.”
i agree with CK.
Ariana acts as if she was the most important thing in Mac Miller’s entire life and that is an insult to his parents and living family members. Ex girlfriends are not family and after death, they need to step back and let the family manage things such as public remembrances and legacy.
CK, yes, thank you!
I wanna like her, and I’m loving “7 Rings.” And I guess she’s young, but something about her just always comes off as “mean girl/spoiled brat.” This definitely didn’t help. I’m sure she didn’t mean Cardi, herself, was trash, but Ariana had to know it would come off that way. (Substantial certainty, I’m a month into law school and I’m practicing my vocab LOL). Cardi was classy and dedicated the award to Mac. I love Cardi.
Ugh…this girl is so overexposed. She does have talent, but I’m sick of her drama and her music. She’s like the new Taylor Swift that won’t go away with her sub-par pop music and long list of boy problems.
25 was a difficult age for TS too, wasn’t it?
So few people think about what they tweet until after they send it.
I think her reaction was over the top. Okay, his parents were invited, that wasn’t a guarantee that he would have a posthumous win and they didn’t have to go.
I don’t see how she’s any different from the Swedish Instamodel who was outed for ‘Blackfishing’. Why are we not talking about it? Her voice, her mannerisms, her dress, her deliberate rip offs of black artists… She presents herself in everything she does as a woman of color and she has always been a privileged white girl with wealthy, well connected parents, right? I don’t know why it’s not a bigger conversation. The song ‘ghostin’ and the way she has handled Mac Miller’s death so publicly is in VERY poor taste. It seems so underhanded and self-serving to get attention for his tragedy, just like everything she does. Also, she seems so cloying like it’s all an act for Instagram. The cartoon ponytail too, ugh. Maybe she’ll grow up someday.
The song Ghostin doesn’t mention Mac by name and since it wasn’t released as a single, it’s a song you have to actively seek out by either listening to her album or going on a site like YouTube, so I disagree. She has the right to sing about her experiences.
The entire song is about her and her relationship with someone else. She’s effectively made his death and his legacy about her. She needs to just not with that. If you want to write about it ok, but do it in a respectful way and don’t title the song ‘ghostin’. It’s just gross.
I think Ariana is one of those people who act before they actually think. Other evidence: the “japanese mini bbq” hand tattoo. Plus, she wrotek the word “stereotype” like “stariotype” on Twitter. I might dislike her at this point 🙂