“Sometimes when a story comes out that’s not directly from me, things can get a little blown out of proportion. So I just wanted to speak to my fans directly tonight because I love you so much. The announcement that was made yesterday was not a reactive or impulsive thing,” she told the crowd, per Variety, saying that the pre-planned decision came “from a thoughtful and empowered place.”
“I want to share this because I heard that my fans were worried that negativity was ruining things for me, but I just have to say that could not be more the fuck opposite. Honestly, this is not what that is,” she continued. “And I just want to be very, very clear: Multiple things can be true at the same time. Yes, boundaries, they need to be set. Human beings can need a break sometimes. And also, this can be and will continue to be the greatest experience of my professional and creative life.”
Though she didn’t get specific, the “negativity” Grande seems to be referring to is probably related to the concerns about her health that reached something of a fever pitch in the past few days, specifically with the release of her “Petal” music video. While her weight has been a topic of discussion for years at this point—in 2023, she shared a video asking people not to comment on it—the conversations have ramped up with the start of her tour. The Good Place actor Jameela Jamil was perhaps the most high-profile voice to weigh in, writing on social media that “This poor woman is possibly dying right in front of us.” In another post, Jamil touched on her personal experience with anorexia and wrote, “Everyone is killing her by normalizing this. Silence is complicity when it gets this far. Look at Karen Carpenter.”
Grande hasn’t really personally spoken about this, but her team has maintained that she is healthy in their statements to People. “She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny,” wrote the rep. Said another source, “She performs a very physical show, and there is a lot of athleticism involved. She performs healthily and successfully at a very high level night after night.” Grande will appear later this year in Fockers-In-Law.
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