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Tag: Ariana Grande

  • Ariana Grande Gives a Fairy Core Performance at the Met Gala

    Ariana Grande Gives a Fairy Core Performance at the Met Gala

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    Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

    Ariana Grande said, “Yes, and?” to perform at this year’s Met Gala, transforming herself into fairy green Sleeping Beauty, giving Elphaba vibes. According to Vogue, Grande started off the surprise performance by singing Disney’s “Once Upon a Dream,” (Nickelodeon look away) then five of her own songs (“Into You,” “Seven Rings,” “The Boy Is Mine,” “We Can’t Be Friends,” and “Yes, And”), and finished off with a cover of “When You Believe” with her Wickedly talented co-star Cynthia Erivo, who wore white with red roses on stage — very Glinda. She was joined by 30 (!!!) dancers on stage — some of whom lifted Grande up as she belted a song — and 40 members of the Broadway Inspirational Voices choir. When will the full performance be released?! As a wise scholar once said: “Please, send it to me Rachel.”

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    Alejandra Gularte

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  • ‘Wicked’ Lights Up CinemaCon with Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and Director Jon M. Chu

    ‘Wicked’ Lights Up CinemaCon with Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and Director Jon M. Chu

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    One year after debuting the first look of Wicked at CinemaCon, Universal Pictures brought members of the magical crew to Las Vegas on Wednesday to light up the festivities, with the team including filmmaker Jon M. Chu and his leading ladies, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who had the honor of introducing exclusive footage for theater owners.

    It was an emotional presentation for the Wicked team as Chu was moved to tears as he recounted finding the two performers to topline the film, and later Grande also got choked up as well.

    The electric presentation — which featured on stage remarks from cast members such as Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Chu and producer Marc Platt — was telegraphed from the start as Colosseum staffers handed out Wicked lanyards to attendees when they walked into the theater. Other staffers instructed guests not to couch tulips placed in the cupholder of each seat until they were asked to.

    Universal chief Donna Langley had the “privilege” of introducing Wicked team. “You all got a taste of this stunning film at last year’s CinemaCon,” said Langley. “And the world has loved this musical and celebrated it for more than 20 years. It’s proof that our future is unlimited. If that will give you a little bit of a tease. Thank you all for being here today. The wizard will see you now.”

    The theater then went dark and those lanyards lit up as did the tulips in shades of pink and green, going from flashing to bright in a stunning display. The screen then featured an oversized Oz, who delivered a custom voiceover for CinemaCon.

    Erivo stars as Elphaba to Grande’s Glinda opposite Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Bridgerton star Bailey as love interest Fiyero, Goldblum as the Wizard, Keala Settle as Miss Coddle, Ethan Slater as Boq, Marissa Bode as Nessarose, Bowen Yang as Pfannee, Bronwyn James as ShenShen and Adam James as Glinda’s father.

    The story unspools as Elphaba and Glinda meet as students at Shiz University in the fantastical Land of Oz and forge an unlikely but profound friendship. Following an encounter with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads. Glinda’s desire for popularity sees her seduced by power, while Elphaba’s determination to remain true to herself, and to those around her, has unexpected consequences on her future. Their paths set them off to fulfill their destinies as Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

    The adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical ⁠(both are based on the 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire) has been in the works for years, with veteran film and stage producer Marc Platt producing alongside David Stone. Winnie Holzman wrote the script as well as the book for Broadway.

    Platt and Stone also shepherded the original Broadway production, which debuted on the Great White Way 20 years ago, on Oct. 8, 2003. It went on to become a certified cultural phenomenon that launched national and international productions and has become the No. 2 highest-grossing Broadway show of all time, after The Lion King.

    In crafting the big screen world based on the Broadway musical, Chu has said that he wanted the Technicolor world to feel as real as possible. “I knew what this movie could be. What does it feel like to be in Oz? Be in the dirt? Feel it in your fingertips,” asked Chu in a sizzle reel shown last year at CinemaCon, noting the project will do things that can’t be done on the Broadway stage. He said at the time that the team planted real flowers to cover Oz, rather than use CG, as he wanted Oz to feel like a real place. He later said that Grande and Erivo recorded their vocals live while cameras were rolling.

    Wicked hits theaters in time for Thanksgiving on Nov. 27. A sequel, Wicked Part Two, is set to be released on Nov. 26, 2025.

    More to come.

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    Chris Gardner

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  • The Top 10 Most Provocative Music Videos of All Time

    The Top 10 Most Provocative Music Videos of All Time

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    A while ago, we ranked the hottest music videos of all time. But a lot has happened since this article was last published, and we need to recognize a few more steamy music videos that had our jaws on the floor. We’ve added five more MV’s to the ranking because they deserved recognition.

    5. Iggy Azalea “Work”

    Iggy Azalea was the moment in 2013. This “Work” music video proves it.

    4. Ariana Grande “7 rings”

    She sees it, she likes it, she wants it, she got it. Ariana Grande is going for the money with this music video.

    3. City Girls “Twerk ft. Cardi B”


    Cardi B and City Girls teach us how to twerk…need I say more?

    2. Nicki Minaj “Barbie Tingz”


    One of Nicki’s wittiest songs, “Barbie Tingz” details all the relationships she’s had with different rappers throughout her career. Exposing men is one of Nicki’s finest moments, and this music video is about as steamy as it gets.

    1. Cardi B. & Megan Thee Stallion “WAP”


    You had to know it was coming. One of the most hyper-sexual songs in recent history from two of the biggest female rappers in the world. The music video with a cameo from Kylie Jenner is our steamiest music video of all time.

    The music video is a very specific art form that many appreciate, but few really take the time to explore.

    While you may have a quick answer to the question of the hottest music video you’ve ever seen, we doubt you could rank the hottest of all time. From Beyonce to Prince, we’ve made a definitive ranking of the ten steamiest music videos ever made.

    10. Beyonce “Partition”

    Beyoncé – Partition (Explicit Video)youtu.be

    Beyonce is the queen of the sparkly leotard. Her iconic love seat pose has given life to countless memes, and for good reason. This video is undeniably one of her hottest.

    9. Selena Gomez “Hands to Myself”

    Selena Gomez – Hands To Myself (Official Music Video)youtu.be

    First of all, Selena Gomez+bangs is pretty fire. Second of all, Selena Gomez+bangs+lingerie+steamy bathtub shots= 🔥🔥🔥🔥

    8. Usher “Trading Places”

    Usher – Trading Placeswww.youtube.com

    Usher doing anything is undeniably hot. We would watch the man tie his shoe laces and give him a standing ovation afterwards. In this video, we not only get steamy bedroom shots and plenty of oiled muscle, but also weird indoor-human-fish-tank moments that we’re admittedly pretty into.

    7. D’Angelo “Untitled (How does it feel)”

    D’Angelo – Untitled (How Does It Feel)youtu.be

    Honestly, it’s just D’angelo standing there shirtless singing his heart out. What more could you want?

    6. Nicki Minaj “Anaconda”

    Nicki Minaj – Anacondawww.youtube.com

    This iconic video features Minaj in lycra pants and other various form fitting outfits twerking etc. She also makes smoothies. It’s hard to look away.

    5. Rihanna “S&M”

    Rihanna – S&Mwww.youtube.com

    This whole list could be Rihanna music videos and we’d stand by it. Out of all of Ri-Ri’s steamy videos, this is perhaps the most enticingly chaotic. Bonus: Rihanna has magnificent red hair in this clip.

    4. Prince “Kiss”

    Prince – Kiss (Official Music Video)www.youtube.com

    Prince was the king of pushing boundaries, and this video was no exception. MTV loosened their standards specifically for this 1986 hit, and we’re so glad they did. Prince in a crop top? Yes please.

    3. Beyonce “Drunk in Love”

    Beyoncé – Drunk in Love (Explicit) ft. JAY Zyoutu.be

    Yes, Beyonce made the list twice, but we just couldn’t help ourselves. While Beyonce looks as amazing as always in this video, what really puts it over the top is the way she undresses Jay-Z with her eyes. *Melts*

    2. Chris Isaak “Wicked Game”

    Wicked Game – Single Edit – Official Music Videoyoutu.be

    This video is decidedly NSFW. Widely agreed upon across the internet to be one of the hottest videos of all time, “Wicked Game” will leave you speechless.

    1. Britney Spears “Toxic”

    Britney Spears – Toxic (Official Music Video)www.youtube.com

    This video tops our list because it just doesn’t get more iconic than this. Say what you want about Britney, but she
    always delivered in the music video department.

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    Jai Phillips

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  • Millennial Mindfuck, Or: Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV

    Millennial Mindfuck, Or: Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV

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    For many millennials living in the U.S., Nickelodeon wasn’t just a staple of growing up…it quite literally raised a generation. With the curtain presently being pulled back on what went into making the shows (or “creating the content,” as it would now be said) that formed the millennial mind, it seems just another “house of horrors” (as one child actor’s mom put it) to reckon with (along with Britney Spears’ conservatorship being a needless sham). Another unmasking that proves everything that was once presented to the public on the surface is a lie. But it’s an unmasking that has been slowly peeled back over the years, whether via speculation about the inappropriate relationship between Amanda Bynes and Dan Schneider or the slew of viral compilation videos from Schneider-produced shows that feature overtly sexual innuendos (among the most blatant being Jamie Lynn Spears getting squirted in the face in a manner that mimics a cum shot and Ariana Grande stroking a potato like a penis and demanding, “Give up the juice”). 

    In Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz’s four-part docuseries, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, these are among the topics explored, along with the urgent need to overhaul the entertainment industry and its handling of child actors. For, despite certain “rules” being in place, like the requirement of a parent or appointed guardian to be on set at all times when their child is working, there remain far too many ways for a child to be abused or taken advantage of. As was the case for many child actors working on Schneider’s sets. Among the most shocking revelations is Drake Bell of Drake & Josh (a series that ran from 2004 to 2007) revealing that he was the one who was sexually assaulted by Nickelodeon-employed dialogue coach Brian Peck during the period between The Amanda Show and the filming of Drake & Josh. Bell was fifteen and sixteen during the time when it happened. 

    Although the court sealed the documents with the name of the child star in question, certain key people (particularly the higher-ups at Nickelodeon and Schneider himself) were aware of the “incident” (a word that puts things mildly). Which was hardly limited to one occasion, but rather, ongoing and relentless. With little opportunity to escape from Brian’s clutches as he had maneuvered his way into every aspect of Bell’s existence, even managing to oust his father, Joe Bell—the only person who could see Peck for what he was (i.e., a creep and a pedo)—from his life by convincing him that Joe would ruin Bell’s career. Naive and inexperienced enough to believe Peck had more knowledge about succeeding in Hollywood, the management of Bell’s career was then deferred to his mother, who let Brian handle most of it, including driving Bell to auditions and then suggesting he simply spend the night instead of being driven all the way back to Orange County and then have to wake up extra early to get to another audition in L.A. 

    As Bell begins to slowly unravel his horror story, he reaches the moment of truth in describing his inevitable abuse. Unable to put into words what happened, Bell told Schwartz, who interviewed him for this portion, “Why don’t you do this? Why don’t you think of the worst stuff that someone can do to somebody as a sexual assault, and that’ll answer your question.” Schwartz was, indeed, instrumental to getting Bell to finally share his story, with Bell remarking, “She was very sensitive, and we kind of became buddies before [the docuseries], and I could tell that she was coming from a genuine place. When we started our back and forth and it wasn’t [from] an angle of, ‘Okay, what do I have to say to get him involved’ and ‘I’ll just say what I need to say to convince him.’ I really felt a comfort with her.” 

    The type of comfort that was obviously lacking from Schneider’s sets. Not only because no one felt safe telling him “no,” but because overtime was frequently an expectation. Especially on the “all-new” All That, with former cast member Kyle Sullivan stating, “The set on All That was dysfunctional. You could just kind of get away with more. Like going overtime in ways that were sort of pushing the envelope.” Former cast member Bryan Hearne adds to that, “They’d be like ‘Hey, can you stay an extra however-long?’ ‘I guess, sure.’ You kind of look at your mom like, ‘We’re ignoring child labor laws again, do you know that?’ All right, let’s shoot.” Indeed, Hearne’s mother, Tracey Browne, is the one who brands the network a house of horrors in Quiet on Set, both upset that Hearne was ousted from the series after just one season, but relieved to see him released from the toxic environment that would turn out to be more toxic than she ever could have fathomed. In fact, it was parents like Brown who often “ruined” their kids’ careers for being “too involved” or “too concerned.” That isn’t something Schneider could abide on his dictatorial sets. And since many parents wanted their children to succeed, they went along with it. Much as the parents who let their children sleep over at Michael Jackson’s house. 

    Amanda Bynes’ parents, Lynn and Rick, ostensibly had a go-with-the-flow attitude as well. What with Bynes instantly becoming Schneider’s “new favorite” and often spending plenty of time alone with him in his office while others remained on set. According to former All That cast member Leon Frierson, “There would be times where Amanda would just be missing, and a lot of times we would just hear that she would be with Dan pitching ideas and writing.” Regardless of whether or not Schneider managed to do something sexually inappropriate during those countless hours spent alone with her, there’s no arguing that someone of his age and power position should not have ever been totally alone with Bynes. As for the potentially sexual nature of their dynamic, resurfaced 2010 tweets from Bynes’ account when she was going by Ashley Banks state the disturbing information, “Can you imagine having an abortion at 13 because your boss impregnated you.” While not everyone is convinced that the account was Bynes’, something about that declaration rings eerily true based on everything viewers are shown on Quiet on Set—especially the clearly rampant pedophilia at Nickelodeon (side note: another documentary [released in 2020] called Happy Happy Joy Joy dissects Ren and Stimpy’s creator John Kricfalusi, and the eventual sexual allegations against him). 

    Schneider’s perverse sense of humor (if that’s what one wants to call it) was also deeply rooted in the “thrill” of getting overtly sexual innuendos past the censors. For example, one idea that Dan came up with and certainly not Amanda was to create a character named Penelope Taynt. The word “taint” being a reference to the area between the penis and the anus. Per Jenny Kilgen, one of two female writers on The Amanda Show who were illegally asked to share one salary for what would have been given readily to a male writer, Schneider told the writers of that word, “Don’t tell what this word really means. He wanted us to keep that a secret.” Which is one of many reasons why the final statement he gives to Quiet on Set for inclusion as a title card at the end of the show is total bullshit. In it, he assures, “Everything that happened on the shows I ran was carefully scrutinized by dozens of involved adults. All stories, dialogue, costumes and makeup were fully approved by network executives on two coasts. A standards and practices group read and ultimately approved every script, and programming executives reviewed and approved all episodes. In addition, every day on every set, there were always parents and caregivers and their friends watching us rehearse and film.” 

    Obviously, the approval of all his work stemmed not only from his ability to “sneak in the sex elements,” but his immense power at the network. Which was at a level that would never allow him to be questioned. After all, this was their “brilliant” hitmaker, why “intervene” with his “process” when the money kept rolling in?

    Kate Taylor, a journalist for Business Insider, paints the picture of Schneider’s increasing power at Nickelodeon in the final episode, “Too Close to the Sun.” A depiction that knocks Schneider’s response about the whole thing out of the water: “By the late 2000s, Dan had more control than pretty much any showrunner at Nickelodeon. He had created his own little fiefdom.”

    Culture writer Scaachi Koul added, “[His style] really pushed the boundaries of sexualizing young girls.” Cue the cut to a scene of Ariana Grande on Sam & Cat being surrounded by a circle of boys spraying her with their water guns while she laughs and laps it up in a bikini top and shorts, or Tori (Victoria Justice) asking Jade (Elizabeth Gillies), “Wanna get slapped with a sausage?” while holding up an actual sausage on a skewer. Jade leans her cheek toward it and says, “Sure.” Then cue another scene with a joke about being “on the wood” (“I want to be on the wood! What’s the wood? I want to be on it”).

    As the episode then pushes into the Zoey 101 era, a costumer for the show who chooses to keep her face off-camera notes, “I always thought Dan had a little bit of an arrested development and he was like that boy that wanted the cute girl to like him.” Based on this endless barrage of examples from his shows that parade these “jokes” that usually degrade the girl at the center of them, that theory holds plenty of weight. 

    In another segment, Mike Denton, a cameraman for iCarly, Sam & Cat and Victorious, commented, “In my mind, a kids’ show should be exactly what it is: a kids’ show. And sometimes there were scenes where there was a prop that was like, ‘Hmm, that could be a sexual innuendo.’” Complete with melons being held up to one’s chest, sucking on pickles, a latex glove blown up to look like a nipple-laden udder—we’re talking the gamut. And then there is Schneider’s well-known fetish for close-ups on feet and tongues licking various objects. “Was anyone able to say anything—?” “Oh no, no. This is, it’s Dan’s baby.” Again, this speaks to the immense power Schneider had over the network. Whatever he said went, and he made them too much money for them to pull at any very glaring threads. 

    “Dan was Nickelodeon’s golden boy,” Koul confirms. “And even if he and the network were at odds, he had the power to push back. It was very hard to say anything to him.” Even and especially when it came to the “online extras” that were released during the Victorious era. Namely, videos of Ariana Grande licking/biting her own foot, putting tomatoes into a bra and pouring a bottle of water all over her face (because, needless to say, Schneider likes cum shots). In effect, these videos come across more like OnlyFans content than kid-friendly fare. 

    In terms of Schneider’s conceptualization for Victorious, his ominous take was: “If there is anything I’ve learned about kids today—and I’m not saying this is good or bad—it’s that they all want to be stars.” So “desperately,” in fact, that they would endure the abuse of working for Schneider. As though to drive home the point that Nickelodeon in general and Schneider’s series in particular were a breeding ground for abusers (and, oh yeah, pedophiles), Łukasz Gottwald a.k.a. Dr. Luke provided the theme song for the show, and undoubtedly greased the wheels to get Kesha to appear on it (when she was still Ke$ha) in 2011. Just three years later, at the beginning of 2014, Kesha would blaze a trail for blowing the whistle on abusive men by checking into rehab for her eating disorder, which she mentioned was mostly due to the verbal lashings she suffered from Dr. Luke telling her things like how was the size of “a fucking refrigerator.” 

    By the end of the year, the extent of Dr. Luke’s abuse was further revealed when Kesha filed a civil suit against her longtime producer for “infliction of emotional distress, sex-based hate crimes and employment discrimination.” If only some of the Nickelodeon stars and staff had been able to do the same. But in 2014, it can’t be overstated how groundbreaking Kesha’s announcement actually was. After all, this was the same year that Schneider was honored at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards with a Lifetime Achievement Award. This in spite of all the open secrets and whisperings about his behavior that had gone on for decades at this point. In this regard, there’s certainly no denying the Harvey Weinstein parallels to Schneider—complete with asking women for massages. While Schneider “at least” didn’t do so after cornering them in a hotel room, it was a different kind of degradation to be asked to do such a thing in front of so many people. Not to mention the implication that Schneider didn’t value the actual work these women were employed to do on the set (i.e., wardrobe and costuming). 

    Schneider’s repeated ability to bake sexual and debasing content into his shows not only went unchecked, but undoubtedly influenced an entire generation of unsuspecting child viewers who were, at the time, too innocent to read into what they were seeing. Of course, a spokesperson for Schneider claims that it’s only perverted “adult minds” that would think such a thing, insisting, “Unfortunately, some adults project their adult minds onto kids’ shows, drawing false conclusions about them.” Um no, the conclusions are pretty clear. And there’s no doubt that this content was able to slip through the cracks precisely because, for many kids watching, these shows were their “caretaker,” their “babysitter” when there weren’t any adults around. Just as there seemed to be no adults around on the set of Schneider’s various series. 

    “Who is sexual innuendo for on a kids show?” Koul ominously asks at what point. The only answer can be, well, pervs and pedophiles. Like the very people who worked on and created these shows. Because it wasn’t just Schneider and Peck who turned out to be of dubious intent in their dealings with children, but also Jason Handy (of all the last names), a production assistant/self-described “full-blown” pedophile, and Ezel Channel, a man who was already registered as a sex offender when he was hired to work at Nickelodeon’s Burbank lot. Subsequently, he brought an underage boy to that lot and abused him there.

    As for Schneider’s attempt to “make good” with what amounts to a twenty-minute deflection posing as a mea culpa, Alexa Nikolas of Zoey 101 said it best when she responded, “Where’s a phone call of an apology? How come you can do all of this, how can everyone do all of this but not reach out to the person that they hurt?” Drake Bell made a similar assessment about Nickelodeon’s public apology, deeming it “pretty empty.” 

    As for millennials who ever dare to rewatch any of these series in the present, they might as well have the same disclaimer as Quiet on Set does before each episode: “This series investigates the abuses experienced by children from the adults they were expected to trust.” In a way, the same statement can be applied to millennials who were expected to trust the generation of adults that created the current climate (literally and figuratively).

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • “yes, and?” Joins the Ranks of Other “Clapback at the Critics” Songs

    “yes, and?” Joins the Ranks of Other “Clapback at the Critics” Songs

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    It is an increasingly “grand tradition” in the genre of songwriting. Not to mention a rite of passage for any major pop star who stirs up enough controversy. That tradition being to “clapback” at the faceless blob known as “The Critics” (though some are simply trying to treat art with the seriousness it should be imbued with—but try telling that to a stan, or a celebrity as convinced of her perfection as Lana Del Rey). With Ariana Grande’s lead single from Eternal Sunshine, “yes, and?,” she revives this grand tradition with the help of the inspiration that came from being, let’s just say it, a homewrecker (a song title that’s already been used, to memorable effect, by Marina and the Diamonds [now MARINA], and appears on the list below). Repurposing the narrative to her benefit with a song that takes ownership of loving a certain babyface ginger dick, Ethan Slater. Best known, that’s right, for his portrayal of SpongeBob SquarePants in the musical of the same name (Grande always has a fetish for the wiry, slightly gay types). 

    While “yes, and?” can’t quite surpass a track like Madonna’s “Human Nature” in terms of its stinging qualities against the critics (e.g., “I’m not your bitch/Don’t hang your shit on me”), it’s definitely become instantly “up there” among the ranks of iconic clapbacks in song form. Below are a few other noteworthy ones from the past few decades, in no particular order. 

    “shut up” by Ariana Grande: Obviously no stranger to criticism by the time 2020’s Positions rolled around, it was fitting that Grande should kick off that album with the saucy “shut up.” A clear message to critics, tabloid headlines and online trolls alike, Grande’s directive was simple: “You know you sound so dumb (so dumb, so dumb, so dumb)/So maybe you should shut up/Yeah maybe you should shut up.” Elsewhere, she points out that those who tend to criticize tend to have the most time on their hands and are also plenty criticizable themselves. Thus, she adds, “How you been spendin’ you time?/How you be usin’ your tongue?/You be so worried ‘bout mine/Can’t even get yourself none.” That line about “using one’s tongue” also foreshadowed the lyric from “yes, and?” that goes, “My tongue is sacred/I speak upon what I like.” Because, apparently, it’s only okay when Ari does that, not critics. 

    “Without Me” by Eminem: Released as the lead single from Eminem’s fourth album, The Eminem Show, “Without Me” was a sequel, of sorts, to “The Real Slim Shady” from 2000’s The Marshall Mathers LP. By 2002, when The Eminem Show came out, Eminem was, even more than Grande, extremely well-versed in being caught in the melee of critics’ and politicians’ contempt. Not to mention the fellow celebrities/public figures Eminem was wont to name-check in his songs. In “Without Me,” that includes Dick and Lynne Cheney, Elvis Presley, Chris Kirkpatrick of *NSYNC, Limp Bizkit, Moby and Obie Trice (though Obie is only mentioned in reference to “stomping” on Moby). More than anything, however, Eminem’s intent is to remind all of his detractors how “empty” it would feel without him in the music industry. Hence, the earworm of a chorus, “​​Now, this looks like a job for me/So everybody, just follow me/‘Cause we need a little controversy/‘Cause it feels so empty without me.” The accompanying video portraying Eminem as a superhero rather than a villain only added to the efficacy of his jibe at critics. 

    “The Emperor’s New Clothes” by Sinead O’Connor: Although “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” the second single from I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, is about many things, one of its most fundamental verses is peak “clapback at the critics,” of which there were already many—especially in conservative Catholic Ireland—at the time of O’Connor’s second record release. The verse in question goes: “There’s millions of people/Who offer advice and say how I should be/But they’re twisted and they will never be/Any influence on me/But you will always be/You will always be.” In this way, O’Connor insists that the public perception or criticism of her will never matter—only the opinion and viewpoint of the one she truly loves (at that time, producer John Reynolds) will. The video for the song also heightens the notion of O’Connor continuing to perform however she wants to and say whatever she wants to as its entire premise is just her dancing and singing onstage in front of an expectedly judgmental crowd.

    “Human Nature” by Madonna: The occasional Sinead adversary, Madonna, brought listeners the inarguable mack daddy of all clapback songs in 1994, with the release of Bedtime Stories (still among one of Madonna’s most underrated records). A direct reference to her treatment and the general slut-shaming that occurred during her Sex book and Erotica era, Madonna wanted to remind critics that she may have forgiven, but she didn’t forget. As the fourth and final single from the album, “Human Nature” differed from the previous singles (including “Secret,” “Take A Bow” and “Bedtime Story”) in that it deliberately sought to remind listeners and critics alike that, despite presenting a “softer side” for this record, the defiant, devil-may-care Madonna was still there. Ready to pounce—and in a black latex bodysuit, too. For just as iconic as the song itself was the Jean-Baptiste Mondino-directed video, awash in S&M aesthetics inspired by Eric Stanton. As Madonna herself said of the track, “The song is about, um, basically saying, ‘Don’t put me in a box, don’t pin me down, don’t tell me what I can and can’t say and it’s about breaking out of restraints.” The restraints that critics have, so often, foolishly tried to place on Madonna. 

    “Like It Or Not” by Madonna: By 2005, Madonna had more than just the usual critics on her back. After turning forty-seven, Madonna kept pushing the so-called limits of pop stardom by daring to keep not only releasing records and performing live, but still dressing “too scantily” “for her age.” Complete with the leotards and fishnets that characterized her Confessions on a Dance Floor period. Fittingly, “Like It Or Not” served as the finale to the record, with Madonna promising her detractors, “This is who I am/You can like it or not/You can love me or leave me/‘Cause I’m never gonna stop.” Turns out, she might have been directing those comments at Guy Ritchie as well. 

    “Vulgar” by Sam Smith and Madonna: In case you couldn’t tell by now, Madonna is not just the Queen of Pop but clearly the Queen of the Clapback—as further evidenced by this modern update to the content and attitude of “Human Nature.” Sam Smith and Madonna came together for this song after the latter’s condemnation for her appearance (too obviously riddled with plastic surgery—that was the usual critique) at the 2023 Grammys and after Smith, too, was criticized for his increasingly “fat” and “effete” appearance during the Gloria album rollout and the according visuals that came with it (including the video for “Unholy”—during which Smith is dressed in some very Madonna-as-Dita attire). Teaming up to hit back at those who would try to keep them down (even though Madonna has far more experience with that than Smith), the duo triumphantly announces, “Got nothing left to prove/You know you’re beautiful when they call you/Vulgar/I do what I wanna/I go when I gotta/I’m sexy, I’m free and I feel, uh/Vulgar.”  

    “Your Early Stuff” by Pet Shop Boys: The Madonna-adjacent (in terms of gay fanbase, musical stylings and coming up in the 80s) Pet Shop Boys also know a thing or two about being critiqued. Especially when it comes to the main criticism being that they’ve been around “too long.” As though an artist should simply pack it in because some arcane alarm clock goes off in their head about being “too old” to continue when, the reality is, true artists keep creating art until the day they die. Featured on 2012’s Elysium (the duo’s eleventh album), Neil Tennant had no trouble writing the song as, per his own words, “Every single line in that song, every single thing has been said to me.” This includes such backhanded “compliments” as, “You’ve been around but you don’t look too rough/And I still quite like some of your early stuff/It’s bad in a good way, if you know what I mean/The sound of those old machines” and “Those old videos look pretty funny/What’s in it for you now, need the money?/They say that management never used to pay/Honestly, you were ripped off back in the day.” Unlike the other songs on this list, “Your Early Stuff” is perhaps most unique for stemming directly from the criticisms of the common people, as opposed to more ivory tower-y, “legitimate” critics. 

    “URL Badman” by Lily Allen: Another British addition to the list, this still too-untreasured gem from Lily Allen’s equally untreasured Sheezus record, “URL Badman” is Allen at her most delightfully snarky (which is saying something, as she she’s quite gifted with snark). Taking little boys who write for the likes of Complex and Vice (RIP, but that’s karma) to task, Allen speaks from the myopic perspective of the URL Badman in question, declaring, “It’s not for me, it must be wrong/I could ignore it and move on/But I’m a broadband champion/A URL badman,” also adding, “And if you’re tryna call it art/I’ll have to take it all apart/I got a high-brow game plan/A URL badman/I’m a U-R-L-B-A-D-M-A-N with no empathy.” This speaking to the crux of how musicians feel about critics in general. 

    “Attention” by Doja Cat: Released as the lead single from Scarlet, Doja Cat’s mountains of controversy had piled up significantly by 2023, chief among them being her blithe defense of dating a white supremacist/sexual abuser and her venomous attack against her own fanbase, who she told to “get a job”—the usual dig made by people who think paid time for unsatisfying labor is supposed to make you a more worthwhile person on this planet (hence, “Billie Eilish Is A Jobist”). “Attention” paired well with this rash of events, with Doja Cat creepily talking about some invisible monster (perhaps what Lady Gaga would call “the fame monster” inside of her) that needs the attention, not her. It’s a very, “That wasn’t me, that was Patricia” defense, and maybe “Scarlet” is the easier part of herself to blame for needing her ego to be fed. Nonetheless, she still demands of the critics, “Look at me, look at me, you lookin’?” later mocking them with the verse, “I readed all the comments sayin’, ‘D, I’m really shooketh,’ ‘D, you need to see a therapist, is you lookin’?’/Yes, the one I got, they really are the best/Now I feel like I can see you bitches is depressed/I am not afraid to finally say shit with my chest.” Obviously, that last line sounds familiar thanks to appearing in the chorus of Grande’s “yes, and?” when she urges, “Yes, and?/Say that shit with your chest.” In another moment of skewering the critics, Doja Cat balks, “Talk your shit about me, I can easily disprove it, it’s stupid/You follow me, but you don’t really care about the music.”

    “Taco Truck x VB” by Lana Del Rey: Lana Del Rey has often felt similarly. And, like Sinead O’Connor’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” it’s one verse in particular that makes Del Rey’s lengthy “Taco Truck x VB” (the “VB” being an abbreviation for a previously unreleased version of Norman Fucking Rockwell’s “Venice Bitch”) stand out as a clapback track. The one that shrugs, “Spin it till you whip it into white cream, baby/Print it into black and white pages don’t faze me/Before you talk, let me stop what you’re saying/I know, I know, I know that you hate me.” And just like that, Del Rey dismisses all responsibility for dubious behavior….like wearing a Native American headdress, posing a non sequitur “question for the culture,” posting unblurred-out videos of black and brown protesters/looters during the BLM of summer 2020 or insisting she’s not racist because she’s dated plenty of rappers (on a side note: no one knows who she might be talking about apart from white “rapper” G-Eazy).

    “Homewrecker” by Marina and the Diamonds: Even if Marina Diamandis a.k.a. Marina and the Diamonds a.k.a. MARINA is singing from the perspective of her alter ego, Electra Heart, 2012’s “Homewrecker” is still plenty viable as a clapback song. And it definitely ties into Ariana Grande’s overarching theme on “yes, and?,” which is a direct addressment of the critics who have called her, that’s right, homewrecker. Opening with the tongue-in-cheek lyrics, “Every boyfriend is the one/Until otherwise proven…/And love it never happens like you think it really should,” MARINA paints the picture of a woman who won’t be torn down by the slut-shaming insults lobbied against her. Besides, as she announces (in the spirit of Holly Golightly), “And I don’t belong to anyone/They call me homewrecker, homewrecker.” She gets even cheekier when she adds, “I broke a million hearts just for fun” and “I guess you could say that my life’s a mess/But I’m still lookin’ pretty in this dress.” This latter line reminding one of Grande’s lyric on “we can’t be friends (wait for your love),” “You got me misunderstood/But at least I look this good.”

    “Piece of Me” by Britney Spears: No stranger to being called a homewrecker herself after getting together with Kevin Federline in 2004, when Shar Jackson was pregnant with his second child, Spears was already jaded about critical lambastings by 2007. And “Piece of Me” was the only appropriate response to all the scrutiny (especially after Spears was reamed for her performance of “Gimme More” at the 2007 VMAs). Thus, she unleashed it as the second single from Blackout. Having endured the critical lashings of her every move, 2007 was also the year that Spears famously shaved her head at a Tarzana salon, providing plenty of grist for the tabloid mill. But to her endlessly stalking paparazzi and the various critics, Spears roared back, “You want a piece of me?/I’m Mrs. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous/I’m Mrs. Oh My God That Britney’s Shameless/I’m Mrs. Extra! Extra! This Just In!/You want a piece of me/I’m Mrs. She’s Too Big Now She’s Too Thin.” So apropos to her entire existence in the spotlight, Spears’ Vegas residency would end up being called that as well—a heartbreaking choice considering how many pieces her family took of her to make her endure that ceaseless run of performances. 

    “Rumors” by Lindsay Lohan: Inarguably Lindsay Lohan’s only solid contribution to the music business, “Rumors” embodies the apex of 00s tabloid culture, awash in all the language of voyeurism (“I can see that you’re watchin’ me/And you’re probably gonna write what you didn’t see”). And Lohan made the mistake of releasing it slightly before she would really be turned into a tabloid/late night talk show joke. This stemming from her overt dependency on drugs and alcohol at a time when a movie titled Herbie: Fully Loaded was going to come out. Cue all the obvious jibes. If only “Rumors” had been released just a year later to secure maximum impact as a defense for her clubbing/party girl behavior. Even so, it remains what RuPaul would call safe as part of the clapback canon. 

    “Industry Baby” by Lil Nas X featuring Jack Harlow: In 2021, Lil Nas X came under fire by Nike for selling a limited run of Satan Shoes featuring the famous swoosh logo with the help of MSCHF, an art collective based in Brooklyn. Nike sued for trademark infringement, prompting Lil Nas X to create quite the tailored concept for the premise of the “Industry Baby” video (with the title sardonically alluding to the insult “industry plant”). Incidentally, it was directed by Christian Breslauer, who would also go on to direct Grande’s “yes, and?” video. But Lil Nas X wasn’t just rebelling against the lawsuit, but all of his haters in general, rapping, “You was never really rooting for me anyway/When I’m back up at the top, I wanna hear you say/‘He don’t run from nothin’, dog’/Get your soldiers, tell ’em that the break is over.” And while co-production from Ye (a.k.a. Kanye West) has left some taint on the track, it still packs a punch when it comes to walloping the critics.

    “Mean” by Taylor Swift:  Probably the most flaccid of the clapback tracks on this list, “Mean” was a direct response to music critic Bob Lefsetz, who reviewed Taylor Swift’s 2010 performance at the Grammys less than favorably. Among some of his more scathing assessments about her off-key performance (made all the more noticeable because she had joined Stevie Nicks onstage) was that she full-stop “can’t sing” and that she had “destroyed her career overnight.” Nostradamus this man is not. But his words clearly stung enough for Swift to include an angry little girl clapback (something that “Look What You Made Me Do” would perfect) on 2010’s Speak Now, released nine months after she performed at the Grammys in January. Which means she found the time to tack “Mean” onto the record for optimal impact. Even so, Lefsetz would rightly note later of the rumors that it was about him and his review, “If this song is really about me, I wish it were better.”

    “Not My Responsibility” and “Therefore I Am” by Billie Eilish: The subject of frequent scrutiny, Billie Eilish already has two clapback at the critics songs under her belt and she’s only twenty-two years old. The first “song,” “Not My Responsibility,” wouldn’t really become a song until it appeared on her sophomore album, Happier Than Ever, in 2021. Originally created as a short film interlude for her Where Do We Go? World Tour, the song came at a time when Eilish was being constantly called out for being, let’s say, the epitome of a twenty-first century sexless pop star. A direct attack on body- and slut-shaming, Eilish softly states, “I feel you watching always/And nothing I do goes unseen/So while I feel your stares/Your disapproval/Or your sigh of relief/If I lived by them/I’d never be able to move.” This more modern commentary on what criticism in the age of social media can do extends not just to critics, but the legions of online commentators as well. A legion that Eilish also acknowledges on “Therefore I Am,” which was released later in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, ergo Eilish’s ability to film freely in a vacant Glendale Galleria. A privilege the critics she derides would never have access to. Something that shines through in her laughing taunt, “Stop, what the hell are you talking about?/Ha/Get my pretty name out of your mouth/We are not the same with or without/Don’t talk ’bout me like how you might know how I feel/Top of the world, but your world isn’t real/Your world’s an ideal.” Often, an impossible one for anybody to live up to. But such is the complex and isolating nature of being a critic.

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • Ariana Grande’s “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” Video: A Postmodernist’s Wet Dream

    Ariana Grande’s “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” Video: A Postmodernist’s Wet Dream

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    It’s safe to say that, of all the pop stars working today (apart from, of course, Madonna), Ariana Grande is the one most blatantly enamored of postmodernism—wherein no distinction exists between high and low art, and references galore are placed in a “pastiche blender.” Even more than her contemporaries, Lana Del Rey and Taylor Swift, Grande is the most obvious in how she’ll take a piece of pop culture and “reinterpret” it. Though perhaps some would say she’s merely recreating it, shot-for-shot, à la Gus Van Sant with Psycho. That much can practically be said of the video for her second single from Eternal Sunshine, “we can’t be friends (wait for your love).” This following her other pastiche-drenched video for “yes, and?,” which is a knockoff of Paula Abdul’s “Cold Hearted” video. 

    As with “yes, and?,” Christian Breslauer also directed “we can’t be friends (wait for your love),” marking their second collaboration. Perhaps they didn’t end up working together sooner due to Grande’s long-standing devotion to Hannah Lux Davis, who has brought us so many Grande music videos over the years, including “Bang Bang,” “Love Me Harder,” “Focus,” “Into You,” “Side to Side,” “breathin,” “thank u, next” (also filled with movie-related pastiche), “7 rings,” “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored,” “boyfriend” and “Don’t Call Me Angel.”

    But “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” has a different vibe from all of those aforementioned light-hearted videos (of which, even “breathin” was more light-hearted than this). Suffused with the kind of melancholia and restraint that comes in the wake of a breakup, Grande and Breslauer take what Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman did in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and distill it down to four minutes and forty-three seconds (something Kaufman would likely be horrified by). Starting with Grande being in the waiting room of “Brighter Days Inc.” (dumbed down from the more “esoteric” company name in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Lacuna Inc.—lacuna meaning “an unfilled space; a gap”), Grande’s penchant for pastiche might even extend to the 2004 (also when Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was released) video for Gwen Stefani’s “What You Waiting For?” In it, Stefani also finds her in a dubious, nondescript waiting room filling out a form filled with odd questions (e.g., “Do you like the smell of gasoline?”). Except it isn’t to help erase her memory, but rather, “be inspired” a.k.a. get rid of her writer’s block. Grande doesn’t tend to have any issues with that, especially when she’s in her “after a breakup/new relationship” phase. 

    Riffing on Clementine Kruczynski’s (Kate Winslet) look, Grande sits in the waiting room of Brighter Days Inc.—an air of uncertainty about her—styled in a fur-trim coat, tights with knee-high boots (featuring a 70s-esque flower pattern) and a flower flourish drawn in white around her eye. This particular detail gives more Katy Perry than Clementine vibes (especially in the former’s hippie-dippy “Never Really Over” video), but it’s part of Grande’s own spin on the character. Which now also incorporates some version of herself thanks to her recent experience of wanting to erase the memory of a botched relationship. Namely, the one that resulted in her two-year marriage to Dalton Gomez. Hence, like Joel Barish (Jim Carrey, who Grande is a well-known fan of), we see Grande-as-“Peaches” (a none too subtle allusion to Clementine) filling out a form that basically denies Brighter Days Inc. any legal responsibility for what might happen after the procedure—including a lingering and barely dormant sense of regret. 

    So it is that we see “Peaches” checking the “Yes” box under the statement, “You have given extensive thought behind your decision and give Brighter Days Inc. the exclusive permission to remove this person completely from your memory.” Clementine herself, of course, didn’t give much extensive thought to it, later telling Joel, “You know me, I’m impulsive.” Peaches is likely the same way, simply wanting to rid herself of the pain that comes from remembering a failed relationship. Thus, despite seeing the anxiousness radiating from her as she resolves to go through with the decision, Peaches knows that it’s “for the best.” 

    Watching the “technicians” remove key mementos of the relationship from the box she brought in (the same way the patients in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind do), viewers soon see the wall of the “operating room” open up behind her (kind of the way the wall opens up behind Miley Cyrus in the “Used To Be Young” video) to reveal the first memory to be scraped. The one that relates to the tiny teddy bear in the box. A bear plucked from what the Brits (and Arctic Monkeys) call a teddy picker by Grande’s ex, played by Evan Peters…who is labeled simply as “Lover” where credited (how Swiftian). The memory then starts to black-out around her (the same way it does for Joel just as he’s remembering all the “good stuff” he loved about being with Clementine). Startled by the abyssal nature of the process, this is the moment where the lyrics, “Me and my truth, we sit in silence/Mmm, baby girl it’s just me and you.” And as the very “Dancing On My Own” by Robyn beat swells again, the blackness around her is replaced by another memory, one in which Lover’s back is turned to her in bed. While she sits up in the place next to him, it’s as though the two are at the point in their relationship where things have become strained, and words have lost all meaning. 

    From this memory, Grande runs out to open the door, leading her into a snow-filled landscape where “Brighter Days” of them making snow angels together exist. This being Grande’s version of Joel and Clementine lying on the ice of the frozen-over Charles River (though, in actuality, that scene was filmed in Yorktown Heights). A “cut” is then made by way of a sheet falling over the scene to transition us from Peaches lying on the snow to Peaches lying in bed with Lover (side note: the sheets’ pattern gives off a decidedly “hospital bed” feel—maybe an unwitting allusion to how love makes you crazy). And in the same way that Clementine is literally yanked away from Joel while they’re lying on the ice together, so, too, is Lover while he and Peaches are looking at each other with the same loving fondness in bed. 

    In the next scene, Breslauer cuts to the memory box again, as a technician picks up a framed photo of the two arranged in “Samantha Baker (Molly Ringwald) and Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling) pose” with a cake between them, exactly as it was in John Hughes’ Sixteen Candles. It is at this moment that viewers might realize Grande is incapable of sticking to just one movie as a visual reference point (even with “34+35,” she couldn’t “only” refer to Austin Powers with her fembot aesthetic….there had to be a Frankenstein premise as well)—something we saw at a peak in “thank u, next.” A video that, although it wields Mean Girls as its primary inspiration, also sees fit to devolve into nods to Bring It On, Legally Blonde and 13 Going on 30. 

    While it’s unclear if Lover is doing this Sixteen Candles homage deliberately because he knows how much Peaches adores the movie or it’s simply another instance of Grande incorporating a pop culture reference apropos of nothing (which is understandable, as many women and gay men’s minds function that way), the point is that Lover disappears from the picture just as they lean into kiss one another over the birthday candles (something that was just as stressful to watch in Sixteen Candles for those fearing a fire hazard). Sitting there alone as the lyric, “So for now, it’s only me/And maybe that’s all I need” plays, Grande blows out the candles before we see the map of her brain again. In the style of Joel freaking out when the “eraser guys” manage to find Clementine hidden within a memory of his childhood (a suggestion made by Clementine so that he could hold onto her in some way even after the process), Grande starts panicking and crying before the computer flashes a sign that reads, “Relinking.” 

    In another memory still, we see Grande on the couch with Lover as he presents her with a necklace that then turns into a dog collar before Lover himself is transformed into a dog (for, as Birds of Prey taught us, dogs are the animals women are most likely to replace men with). This is where Grande takes the most liberties with her reinterpretation of the movie, for it seems that Brighter Days Inc. isn’t just capable of erasing memories, but also reworking them entirely. As such, the interior decor around her continues to, let’s say, shapeshift, while the TV in front of her plays back the memories one last time before we see Peaches shaking hands with the doctor and nurse for doing their job, the procedure now over. 

    The image of the box of memories, teddy bear and all, being incinerated then leads into Peaches walking down a street with a new boyfriend and passing Lover with his new girlfriend, neither party registering any kind of recognition. And just like that, Peaches forgets all about her pain. Just as viewers might forget all about the original Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. But that’s what pastiche is about: subverting collective memories for the sake of consumption.

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • Forget Me Now: Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine Enters the Canon of Pop Icon Divorce Albums

    Forget Me Now: Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine Enters the Canon of Pop Icon Divorce Albums

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    Thanks to Taylor Swift’s ever-increasing monopoly on the subject, if there’s anyone who flies increasingly under the radar for writing and singing about love/breakups apart from Jennifer Lopez, it’s Ariana Grande. With her 2019 album, thank u, next, she reminded listeners of her premier status as a pop singer who serves as “an expert” on love—both falling in and out of it. With 2020’s Positions, Grande stumbled just a little bit as she ostensibly struggled to strike the perfect balance between the newly-minted “lockdown pop” genre and maintaining the sound and style that people had grown accustomed to with both Sweetener and thank u, next. On her seventh album, Eternal Sunshine, Grande (from the wreckage of divorce) marries the auditory and lyrical elements of her three previous records, adding just a dash of “Glinda whimsy” into the mix (indeed, it’s quite obvious that her time filming a musical like Wicked had an effect on her vocal and sonic stylings—sort of like it did on Madonna with Evita). 

    Most essential to the album, however, is the running theme that centers around Michel Gondry’s 2004 film, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (written by none other than Charlie Kaufman). In terms of titles being continuously repurposed with each new generation that’s inspired by them, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was itself taken from a line in Alexander Pope’s 1717 poem, “Eloisa to Abelard.” On that note, Grande could have just as well made this a double album, with one side titled Ariana to Dalton and Ariana to Ethan. Instead, she chooses to “let listeners decide” between what’s real and what’s fabricated/embellished on the record. In other words, she’s not one to confess which parts were pulled from fiction and which from reality. As she told Zane Lowe during her Apple Music interview for the album, “You can pull from your truth, you can pull from a concept, you can pull from a film, from a story you’re telling, from a story about a relationship that your friend told you [this being a version of what Taylor Swift did for “You Belong With Me”]. From, you know, art is really…it can come from anywhere.” A very evasive answer, even if a true one (and also, try telling that to plagiarism fundamentalists). In Grande’s case, Gondry’s film serves as the “lovely costume” she wears to tell the story on this record. One that commences with “intro (end of the world).”

    It is, thus, right out the gate that one can feel the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind influence, being that Montauk is famously known as “The End of the World” due to its geographical location at the tip of Long Island, complete with craggy cliffs that are ripe for jumping from. Less romantically, though, it’s also sometimes referred to as “The Last Resort”—that is, the last option on Long Island once you get to it (unless you plan on turning right back around). This is the nickname that perhaps more closely applies to some of what Grande endured during her brief marriage to Dalton Gomez before causing a stir with her Ethan Slater dalliance. So it is that the first line she provides on Eternal Sunshine is the question: “Uh/How can I tell if I’m in the right relationship?/Aren’t you really supposed to know that shit?/Feel it in your bones and own that shit?/I don’t know/Then I had this interaction/I’ve been thinking ‘bout for like five weeks/Wonder if he’s thinking ‘bout it too and smiling/Wonder if he knows that that’s been what’s inspiring me/Wonder if he’s judging me like I am right now.” 

    Those versed in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind can immediately hear that, more than talking about herself and Slater, Grande is talking about Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet) and Joel Barish (Jim Carrey). The “interaction” in question easily speaking to both the first actual time Clementine and Joel met and the time they meet by “happenstance” on a train to Montauk (and also the train back from it) after their memories of one another have been erased. Concluding the intro with a verse that highlights the album’s key image, “sunshine,” Grande croons, “If the sun refused to shine/Baby, would I still be your lover?/Would you want me there?/If the moon went dark tonight/And if it all ended tomorrow/Would I be the one on your mind, your mind, your mind?/And if it all ended tomorrow/Would you be the one on mine?” (Way to channel Lana Del Rey’s choir confusing “mine” with “mind” on “The Grants.”) 

    Starting and ending that intro with a question should give listeners plenty of insight into her cryptic “Caterpillar-meet-the-Cheshire-Cat from Alice in Wonderland” mood. But the answer to whether Dalton Gomez would be on her mind if it all ended tomorrow is an overt no based on the second track, “bye” (much more final sounding than k bye for now). A seeming lyrical homage to Ariana favorite *NSYNC (how dare she support Justin after Britney’s memoir unveilings though) and their 2000 hit, “Bye Bye Bye,” as well as Beyoncé’s 2016 bop, “Sorry,” during which she illustriously urges, “Tell him, ‘Boy bye.’” Grande turns that into, “Bye-bye/Boy, bye/Bye-bye/It’s over, it’s over, oh yeah/Bye-bye/I’m taking what’s mine.” And what’s “hers,” in this scenario, is her mind, heart and soul (a concept that tracks based on Grande’s ethereal, hippie-dippy nature). Besides, as she points out, “This ain’t the first time/I’ve been hostage to these tears [a double allusion to “no tears left to cry” and the event that inspired it: the Manchester Arena bombing]/I can’t believe I’m finally moving through my fears/At least I know how hard we tried, both you and me/Didn’t we?/Didn’t we?” In keeping with the thank u, next precedent of peppering her friends on the album, she then references one of her besties, Courtney Chipolone, in the pre-chorus, “So I grab my stuff/Courtney just pulled up in the driveway/It’s time.” 

    And yet, even though she can acknowledge “it’s time,” her hesitation is tantamount to Ross Geller’s (David Schwimmer) not wanting to be divorced three times. And, considering Grande once announced, “One day I’ll walk down the aisle…/Only wanna do it once, real bad/Gon’ make that shit last,” it’s no wonder she has a hint of “Geller Syndrome.” Because, turns out, Grande fell prey to being a Hollywood cliche all too soon. Thus, the song “don’t wanna break up again” (a contrast to “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored”). Which speaks so savagely of her marriage to Gomez that she refers to it as a “situationship,” as in: “This situationship has to end/But I just can’t refuse/I don’t wanna break up again, baby.” One might interpret as her trying to break things off with Slater before the media or anyone else finds out, but the Gomez allusions are clear in verses like, “I made it so easy/Spent so much on therapy/Blamed my own codependency/But you didn’t even try/When you finally did, it was at the wrong time.”

    Elsewhere, she goes back to her self-love motif (the one most clearly established on “thank u, next”) with the pronouncement, “Won’t abandon me again for you and I.” A slight Beyoncé nod (from yet another Lemonade track, “Don’t Hurt Yourself”) also comes again in the form of: “I’m to much for you/So I really gotta do/The thing I don’t wanna do.” And that is: break the fuck up in favor of a Munchkin. But, one supposes she’s been kinder about the break up in her lyrics than, say, Miley Cyrus (with singles like “Slide Away” and “Flowers”) as she waxes poetically, “Just one kiss goodbye/With tears in our eyes/Hope you won’t regret me/Hope you’ll still think fondly of our little life.” This, too, is kinder than what Clementine might say to Joel on the matter. 

    On that note, the next interlude on the record (because “intro [end of the world]” kind of counts as one, too), “Saturn Returns Interlude” (or what No Doubt would call Return of Saturn), is reminiscent of the voicemail left by Grande’s friend and tour director Doug Middlebrook just before leading into “in my head” on thank u, next. This time, it’s astrologer Diana Garland giving the wake-up call. Using these snippets of other people’s words, in both cases, serves as Grande’s way of processing the end of a relationship, de facto the end of an era. And how she will proceed into a new one with a more “awake” state of mind. In truth, “Saturn Returns Interlude” is less homage to the dreamy state of losing one’s memory as presented in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind than it is an homage to the dreamy state Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) exists in upon entering the Land of Oz (because, yeah, Wicked is all over this record as well). Eventually, though, Dorothy wakes up from her literal dream. With no need of listening to the surreal astrological counsel of Garland as she explains, When we’re all born, Saturn’s somewhere/And the Saturn cycle takes around about twenty-nine years/That’s when we gotta wake up and smell the coffee/Because if we’ve just been sort of relying on our cleverness Or relying,you know, just kind of floating along/Saturn comes along and hits you over the head/Hits you over the head, hits you over the head, and says, ‘Wake up’/It’s time for you to get real about life and sort out who you really are.”

    Her words than become warped and echo-y as the interlude ends with, “Wake up. Get real” before leading into the eponymous “Eternal Sunshine.” A song that seems to shed light on what happens after the twenty-ninth year, when that “Saturn smackdown” hits, particularly if you’re Adele or Ariana—because, indeed, Grande is giving us her pithy divorce album the same way Adele did back in 2021 with 30 (released, trickily, when she was thirty-three). Or Madonna with 1989’s Like A Prayer, for that matter (released when she was thirty years old, so yeah, the return of Saturn theory tracks on monumental personal growth shifts that lead to inevitable relationship schisms). 

    Once again produced by Max Martin (along with Shintaro Yasuda and DaviDior), the R&B-infused sound remains something of a surprise coming from the “auteur producer,” better known for his deftness at crafting more pop-oriented melodies. Even so, he seems at home in Grande’s genre landscape, which patently favors house and R&B throughout. Opening with the lines, “I don’t care what people say, we both know I couldn’t change you,” Middlebrook’s aforementioned warning comes to mind: “Here’s the thing: you’re in love with a version of a person that you’ve created in your head, that you are trying to but cannot fix. The only thing you can fix is yourself.” And even that’s often too tall of an order sometimes. Still, Grande keeps expressing the desire to try. Though that can come in unexpected ways—like wanting to “wipe her mind” of the memories of Gomez. Another interesting tidbit presented in the song is the idea that perhaps Gomez was stepping out on Grande long before she did on him, this being alluded to in the lyrics, “Hope you feel alright when you’re with her/I found a good boy and he’s on my side.” This latest “good boy” (which makes Ethan Slater seem decidedly canine…in addition to his already-present associations of being Munckin-like and kind of gay), however, might end up eventually being branded as her “eternal sunshine.” Because when Grande says, “You’re just my eternal sunshine,” it isn’t exactly a compliment, so much as a declaration that this is now a person (read: man) she wants to forget ever existed for her own self-preservation. 

    Although delivered in an expectedly “chirpy” way, there’s an air of resentment in Grande’s lyrics, including, “I showed you all my demons, all my lies/Yet you played me like Atari.” After name-checking that “vintage” video game, it’s entirely possible the company could release a limited-edition “Ari Atari” (for optimal “brand synergy”)—but if Monopoly didn’t capitalize on “monopoly,” then probably not. As for the use of that brand as an actual word, it translates to mean “to hit a target” in Japanese. And Grande was very much “hit” by her marriage to Gomez, as much as she was “hit” by Cupid’s arrow when it came to Slater. This being the presumed theme of “supernatural” (incidentally, Madonna has a song titled this that was written during/for her own divorce album, Like A Prayer, and it now appears on the thirtieth anniversary edition of it). 

    Switching to a more ebullient state of mind, Grande sings, “It’s like supernatural/This love’s possessin’ me, but I don’t mind at all/It’s like supernatural/It’s takin’ over me, don’t wanna fight the fall/It’s like supernatural.” Unfortunately, she can’t see fit to stop there, continuing, “Need your hands all up on my body/Like the moon needs thе stars/Nothin’ еlse felt this way inside me/Boy, let’s go too far [this extending into breaking up a marriage]/I want you to come claim it, I do/What are you waiting for?/Yeah, I want you to name it, I do/Want you to make it yours.” It might be “sweet” were it not for the image of Slater, among other things, claiming and naming Grande’s pussy. 

    Perhaps sensing she’s gotten too personal, Grande then transitions into the more playful, more nebulous “true story”—the song she joked to Zane Lowe is “an untrue story based on all untrue events” (to reiterate, she’s in her “Caterpillar-meet-the-Cheshire-Cat from Alice in Wonderland” mood). To heighten that sense of playfulness, Martin provides Grande with something resembling a near-parody of a 90s R&B beat—making “true story” an ideal amuse-bouche before “the boy is mine.” Seeming to address, once more, the scandal she caused over her relationship with Slater, Grande asserts, “I’ll play the villain if you need me to [how very Lisa from Girl, Interrupted]/I know how this goes, yeah/I’ll be the one you pay to see, play thе scene/Roll the camеras, please.” These lyrics regarding acting out scenes not only appearing yet again after she sang (of Gomez), “So now we play separate scenes” on “eternal sunshine,” but also playing into the dual idea that she’s reenacting Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for her own art and living her life in a fishbowl wherein, eventually, it has to be asked how much one is performing for the omnipresent cameras. That conditioning that comes with being expected to be always “on” (even when one is as open about mental health as Grande). 

    The caricature of 90s R&B then continues on “the boy is mine,” which is something like a follow-up to an unreleased Grande track called “fantasize” (side note: on “true story,” Grande deliberately wields that word in the line, “This is a true story about all the lies/You fantasize/‘Bout you and I.” The song (intended as a girl group parody for a TV show [could it have been Girls 5eva?]) offers more lyrical variations on NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye” with the lines, “I won’t keep waiting/I’m out the door/Bye, bye, bye.” On “the boy is mine,” however, Grande is choosing to remain all in. Doubling down on her avowal that the boy is hers, Grande claims, “I don’t wanna cause no scene/I’m usually so unproblematic/So independent.” Surely she’s being sardonic in the same way as Truman Capote (Tom Hollander) is by telling Babe Paley (Naomi Watts) in Capote vs. The Swans, “I’m famous for my discretion.”  Whether or not she’s joking, Grande wants listeners to know that she’s just giving the “bad girl anthem” fans want as opposed to acknowledging anew her Slater/homewrecker controversy. That said, Grande is certain to sound her most Brandy-esque (the same way she does for most of the Positions album) as she sings, “Somethin’ about him is made for somebody like me/Baby, come over, come over/And God knows I’m tryin’, but there’s just no use in denying/The boy is mine.” 

    Soon, the lyrics become rather reminiscent of “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored” (both lyrically and sonically, even though it’s supposed to “interpolate” the original Brandy and Monica version). This most apparent in braggadocious projections such as, “I can’t wait to try him/Le-let’s get intertwined/The stars, they aligned/The boy is minе/Watch me take my time.” As though to say, “It’s only a matter of” before she gets her object of desire. Or, as Madonna-channeling-Breathless Mahoney said on “Sooner or Later,” “Sooner or later there’s nowhere to hide/Baby, it’s time, so why waste it in chatter?/Let’s settle the matter/Baby, you’re mine on a platter I always get my man” and “If you’re on my list, it’s just a question of when.”

    And, even if that man on her list happens to be “taken,” Grande has the (im)perfect response for her detractors by way of “yes, and?”—the latest song to join the ranks of the “clapback at the critics” genre. What’s more, its video, too, pays tribute to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind by way of indicating that the “art space” (a.k.a. warehouse-looking joint) she’s performing in is in Montauk. But when she demands of her critics with arrogant confidence, “Why do you care so much/Whose dick I ride?” she fails to take into account that many might care for the simple purpose of avoiding STDs.

    The upbeat defiance of “yes, and?” is subsequently contrasted by “we can’t be friends (wait for your love),” the second single from Eternal Sunshine. As she gives her best imitation of Robyn on Body Talk (courtesy of Martin and ILYA being extremely well-versed in such Swedish-helmed Europop), Grande paints the bittersweet portrait of a woman who is a clear believer in the message of When Harry Met Sally. And, once more, it’s a song that can double as a depiction of her relationship dynamics with both Gomez and Slater. For it’s a track that’s capable of speaking to not wanting to be friends with an ex (let alone an ex-husband) and not wanting to stay in the friend zone at the outset of a dynamic. Thus, “We can’t be friends/But I’d like to just pretend/You cling to your papers and pens/Wait until you like me again.” And while the part about “clinging to papers and pens” sounds like a decided real estate agent dig and/or reference to divorce papers, there’s also an element that gives a nod to Grande not wanting to pretend that she didn’t feel attracted to Slater despite the taboo (in every way) nature of such a yearning. 

    The jury seems to lean more toward “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” being about Gomez, if the transition into “i wish i hated you” is anything to go by. Reverting to the dreamy-sounding aura listeners heard on “Saturn Returns Interlude” and “eternal sunshine,” the melancholic tone is the most “divorce-y context” of the album. As such, Grande commences it with the verse, “Hung all my clothes in the closet you made/Your shoes still in boxes, I send them your way/Hoping life brings you no new pain.” Then, for the coup de grace of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind references, Grande says, “I rearrange my memories/I try to rewrite our life.” Mostly, by trying to delude herself into thinking it never happened. Because, like Don Draper said, “It will shock you how much this never happened.” Memory’s funny like that, a tool for self-preservation as much as it is self-harm. As the most musically sparse song on the record (thanks to production help from ILYA) it stands out as a “little gem” in the vein of “pov” from Positions.

    In fact, the entire end of the album has that “little gem” feel, changing sonic tack as well on “imperfect for you” (a personal favorite of Grande’s). As the second to last song, it signals Grande’s complete transition away from her relationship with Gomez and into the “delightful” abyss of her new one with Slater. Who is directly referenced with the urging, “Throw your guitar and your clothes in the backseat/My love, they don’t understand.” Grande describes how, upon meeting him, “Now I just can’t go where you don’t go” (which smacks of Tove Lo singing, “Come whatever, now or never/I follow you anywhere you go/Yeah, wherever, doesn’t matter/I follow you anywhere you go/Stay together, you make me better”).  

    Grande also addresses the appeal of Slater in terms of assuaging her ubiquitous anxiety, remarking (from both her and Slater’s perspective), “And usually, I’m/Fucked up, anxious, too much/But I’ll love you like you need me to/Imperfect for you/Messy, completely distressed/But I’m not like that since I met you/Imperfect for you.” 

    Having expunged her memory of Gomez by the end of Eternal Sunshine, it leaves the door wide open (no sexual innuendo intended) for Slater to be fully focused on for “ordinary things” featuring Nonna (not a rapper, but rather, Ari’s grandma, Marjorie Grande, who also cameos on thank u, next just before “bloodline”). Blissing out on the idea that, “No matter what we do/There’s never gonna be an ordinary thing/No ordinary things with you/It’s funny, but it’s true,” the most important takeaway is what Grande concludes the song with in wielding a recording of her grandma (of which she has many). That piece of wisdom at last answering the question she posed at the beginning of the record: “How can I tell if I’m in the right relationship?”

    Per “Nonna,” the answer is simple: “Never go to bed without kissin’ goodnight. That’s the worst thing to do, don’t ever, ever do that. And if you can’t, and if you don’t feel comfortable doing it, you’re in the wrong place, get out.” The thing is, there’s probably a few relationships one will have in their life where they can feel comfortable not going to bed without “kissin’ goodnight.” In which case, the question actually still remains. 

    So maybe it’s better to extrapolate one other brief kernel from Eternal Sunshine. Specifically the one on “we can’t be friends (wait for you)” where there remains a hint of the sologamist as Grande self-soothes, “Me and my truth, we sit in silence/Baby girl, it’s just me and you.” Sounds a lot like the way she talks to herself on “thank u, next,” assuring, “I met someone else/We havin’ better discussions/I know they say I move on too fast/But this one gon’ last/‘Cause her name is Ari/And I’m so good with that.”

    As for the men that provide an “interlude” in between the core relationship she has with herself, well, they certainly offer solid gold inspiration no matter what they look like. And besides, as Grande also says on the abovementioned song, “I don’t wanna argue, but I don’t wanna bite/My tongue, yeah, I think I’d rather die/You got me misunderstood/But at least I look this good.” Amen. Now please resume the recitation of your Eternal Sunshine hymnal without wondering why Grande failed to include, “I’m just a fucked-up girl who’s lookin’ for my own peace of mind; don’t assign me yours” somewhere on the record. Alas, Halsey already did that on 2020’s Manic (in addition to naming one of the songs on it “clementine”).

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • It’s Elle Darlington’s World…We’re Just Living In It

    It’s Elle Darlington’s World…We’re Just Living In It

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    Elle Darlington has all the makings of your classic popstar: a whimsical, dynamic vocal range, the songwriting prowess to make any song an instantaneous pop hit, and a high-energy aura that’s both contagious and compelling.

    Similarly to the rest of the world, Darlington started uploading her music to TikTok during lockdown – where we found a fresh way to discover artists without the help of a label. From there, it didn’t take long for the world to fall in love with Elle Darlington, who amassed over 1.1 million followers thanks to her song covers.

    In October of 2023, a few short years after Darlington’s college tutor suggested she start posting her music online, she released her debut single, “wish you would.” Reminiscent of pop-diva greats like Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande, Elle Darlington entered the music scene swinging (even hitting insane whistle notes).

    “wish you would” displays her dreamy voice and ear worm-y lyrics that send me back to the early 2000’s. Her voice is glamorous and her music hits the sweet spot between nostalgic and completely, utterly unique. In terms of debut singles, it’s hard to craft one as astonishing an introduction to an artist as “wish you would.”

    Since then, Elle Darlington continues to prove she is bringing back the era of the popstar. Following up with a refreshing holiday song, “Christmas Is You”, Elle often nods to Mariah Carey’s iconic “All I Want For Christmas Is You” as her go-to Christmas jam.

    And then there’s her latest release, “hiatus”, which blends pop and R&B almost seamlessly. A song about needing a break from someone who isn’t good for you anymore, “hiatus” is yet another immaculate contribution to Darlington’s discography. You can listen to “hiatus” below.


    What makes Elle Darlington different isn’t the features in magazines like Peopleand Rolling Stone, or the record deal with Columbia Records…but the effortless talent that just exudes from her, the way the term “popstar” can be thrown into the mix and no one will bat an eye. Because some people just have the It Factor, and she’s one of them.

    As she takes the world by storm, I got the chance to speak with Elle Darlington about her new singles, what comes next, and much more. Check it out below!

    PD: You’ve been studying music your whole life. Who were your inspirations growing up and how did they influence your career?

    My first awakening into music was watching Hannah Montana when I was super young. The show was what first introduced me to ‘pop stars’. I wanted to be like her so bad! As I grew up a little I was obsessed with Rihanna, Beyonce, and Ariana Grande.

    PD: Your career took off on TikTok, where you began posting covers and gathered a following. Did you have a plan when going on the app? What kind of covers are your go-to?

    No! I had no expectations, it was actually a tutor at my college who suggested I start uploading videos. I made my account for fun in lockdown to keep myself busy and it grew from there. I like to keep my videos spontaneous so there’s isn’t much planning involved. I do love to cover a power ballad though!

    PD: Your debut single, “Wish You Would”, came out in October. After working on this project for over two years, what have you learned about yourself as a songwriter so far?

    I need to write about true experiences. It took a while to become comfortable opening up to people so that my songs could reflect my life and my vision. Once I learned how to channel my emotions it made the process way easier for me and I really feel like the more genuine I am, the more people can relate to my songs.

    PD: You have an amazing way of storytelling. If you had one piece of advice for those starting out, what would it be?

    Don’t be afraid of what people are going to think of you. Everyone starts somewhere! And trust your gut, if you believe in it, go for it.

    PD: Your new song “Hiatus” is coming out in February. What was the inspiration behind it?

    “hiatus” came from a relationship where I was feeling really unappreciated and had to learn to put myself first and walk away. I hadn’t heard the word put into a song before and I thought it was a really interesting way to talk about a breakup.

    PD: What is one thing you want your audience to take away from your music?

    I want my audience to connect my music with whatever they’re going through. Sing along to it, cry along to it.. anything it makes them feel really!

    PD: What’s next for you in 2024?

    I can’t wait to show everyone all the different things I’ve been working so hard on over the past couple of years…so lots of music to be released in 2024! and hopefully a lot of live shows too.

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    Jai Phillips

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  • What Is Ariana Grande’s Dating History? Find Out Everything About Her Past And Present Partners

    What Is Ariana Grande’s Dating History? Find Out Everything About Her Past And Present Partners

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    Ariana Grande’s dating history is quite glam, as the actress was in relationships with the A-listers of the industry. From going public with Graham Philips to marrying Dalton Gomez, the fans have been all in for Grande’s love life. Here’s a look at the list of men Just Like Magic singer has dated over her years in the industry. From dainty love affairs to hurtful breakups and a divorce, the actress has yet again found herself happy with her new boyfriend. Find out who it is. 

    Graham Phillips

    Ariana Grande’s first public relationship after gaining fame was with Graham Phillips. The couple started dating in 2008 after meeting on the sets of a Broadway play. The duo sat down and wrote a love song together, Stick Around. The duo were clicked kissing each other on the sets, and that confirmed the relationship. After dating for almost three years, Grande and Phillips parted ways in December 2011. 

    Jai Brooks

    Ariana Grande dated Jai Brooks for two years, from 2012 to 2014. The duo met online and connected instantly. The actress seemed happy in the relationship until they broke up in 2014. Soon after their breakup, Brooks claimed that Grande cheated on him. He posted a long note that read, “Yes, I was cheated on. Yes, it does suck. Yes, I was left for another man. Once you are cheated on, you should never go back, and I did because I wasn’t ready to give up on love and something that was everything to me.”

    Nathan Sykes

    Nathan Sykes and Ariana Grande via Getty Images

    Ariana Grande had a crush on Nathan Sykes for a long time. She first saw Sykes on a red carpet at an award ceremony and started gushing about him. The Wicked star collaborated with the British singer in a music video for Almost Is Never Enough. Soon the duo started dating, but ended the relationship in just five months of getting in. The reason for the breakup was stated to be distance. 

    Big Sean

    Big Sean and Ariana Grande via Getty Images

    ALSO READ: Ariana Grande celebrated one year ‘blondieversary’ with before-after snaps; PICS Inside

    The longtime friends, Big Sean and Ariana Grande, began dating in mid 2014, after collaborating on one of Grande’s singles, Right There. The duo were seen kissing in a movie theater and later clicked ringing in the new year’s. However, their love story did not get a happy ending as the couple broke up in 2015. In a joint statement that the rapper and the singer released, they stated that they “care deeply for each other and remain close friends.” 

    Ricky Alvarez

    Ariana Grande was involved with a background dancer, Ricky Alvarez, in 2015. While the couple were very tight lipped about their romance, the actress addressed her dating life in an interview with Billboard for her cover story. She said, “We’re happy. I’m a very happy girl. I have a healthy life right now, and I think that’s all anyone cares to know. The end.” Grande composed the song Moonlight for Alvarez. The singer’s friend, Victoria Monet, shared that Alvarez is a great guy. She revealed, “He waited to kiss her for a long time, and she was really impressed. He’s such a gentleman, and the song is a great little bookmark of the start of their relationship.” The duo parted ways in 2016. 

    Mac Miller

    Mac Miller and Ariana Grande collaborated on a song in 2013 and later in 2016. They went public with their relationship in 2016. The singer confirmed her relationship via Instagram, where she posted a picture of the couple hugging on the floor with the caption, “babbyyyy.” However, in May 2018, Grande broke up with Miller, with the reason being unknown. 

    Pete Davidson

    Pete Davidson and Ariana Grande via Getty Images

    After her breakup with Miller, Ariana Grande dated Pete Davidson. The couple made it official on social media by posting their pictures in the Harry Potter themed robes. Davidson also shared a picture of his new neckline tattoo, which was about the Don’t Look Up actress. The two split in 2018. A source close to them shared that it was all happening way too soon. 

    Mikey Foster

    Mikey Foster and Ariana Grande collaborated on a track, Boyfriend, after which the fans were curious about the two dating each other. The music video also had the two kissing on screen. While the relationship lasted for nine months, an insider revealed, “Ariana and Mikey were a fling that was fun, but it wasn’t ever going to lead into something super serious. Ariana really liked Mikey, but she wasn’t head over heels over him.”

    Dalton Gomez

    Dalton Gomez and Ariana Grande via Getty Images

    Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez started dating in March 2020. Gomez is into the real estate business, and the two got engaged a few months later. Ariana and Dalton got married in 2021 in an intimate ceremony with their family and friends present. “It was tiny and intimate—less than 20 people. The room was so happy and full of love. The couple and both families couldn’t be happier,” a member of Grande’s management team confirmed. Within two years of the marriage, the duo filed for divorce in 2023. 

    Ethan Slater

    Ethan Slater via Getty Images

    ALSO READ: What Is Ariana Grande’s Net Worth As Of 2024? Exploring Her Hollywood Riches

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    1137109

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  • Mondo Bullshittio #47: Madonna Not Being on the “yes, and?” Remix, Or: Mariah Carey Not Only Brings Nothing to the “yes, and?” Remix, But She Also Sounds Like An AI Version of Herself

    Mondo Bullshittio #47: Madonna Not Being on the “yes, and?” Remix, Or: Mariah Carey Not Only Brings Nothing to the “yes, and?” Remix, But She Also Sounds Like An AI Version of Herself

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    In a series called Mondo Bullshittio, let’s talk about some of the most glaring hypocrisies and faux pas in pop culture…and all that it affects.

    As Mariah Carey has been trending with “the kids” these days (mainly because Miley Cyrus bowed down to her while being presented with the Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance, even though Carey announced her name as “Mirey” instead of “Miley”), it’s only natural that Ariana Grande should return to collaborating with her (having previously featured on yet another remix in 2020…for Carey’s 2010 song, “Oh Santa!”). Except that, well, it’s not really natural at all for a remix of “yes, and?,” which, if anything, should include contributing vocals from Madonna, the pop star that Grande borrows most heavily from for the single (apart from Paula Abdul…but only for the accompanying music video’s visuals). Because, needless to say, “yes, and?” is extremely influenced by “Vogue.” Which Madonna herself borrowed from the gay Black and Latino community of ballroom dancers in the late 80s. Because, as many are still aware, Madonna was the only mainstream artist at that time willing to showcase, promote and generally associate with gay men during a period when it was anathema to do so thanks to the AIDS pandemic. We all know Mariah damn sure wasn’t doing that shit, especially since she was doing her best at the outset of her career to not be branded as a Black artist, least of all liberally associate in public with gay Black people.

    Accordingly, Mariah, while Blacker than Madonna (obviously), doesn’t really have a place to comfortably assert herself within the spirit of this song. Not just because it’s evident that she’s struggling to find a moment on the remix where her vocals can actually shine (without fully upstaging Grande’s—though upstaging has never seemed to be a problem for Carey), but because she also comes across like an AI-sounding version of herself. Perhaps in a bid not to be compared to Grande, Carey goes a few octaves lower than we’re used to hearing as Grande hits all of her usual high notes. Sure, the two harmonize at the beginning for an effect that could bring all the dolphins to shore, but, as the song commences, Carey gets totally lost in the shuffle of Grande’s dominating voice. 

    While the point of adding Carey into the equation might have been, among other reasons (apart from making certain gay men splooge), to highlight their comparable vocal stylings and talents, the result is, instead, underscoring Grande’s vocal prowess compared to her “mentor’s.” An effect, as many snarky critics would be quick to point out, that wouldn’t have happened with the likes of Madonna contributing to the track. And no, it’s not “just” because she doesn’t have the same vocal range as Carey, but because her voice is different enough from Grande’s to actually complement it. And since the implications of a remix are that a song is actually going to stand apart from its original with either different music or a collaborator that’s noticeable (as was the case on Grande’s “34+35 Remix”), “yes, and?” falls short in many regards. 

    Being that Carey’s genre range has never gone far beyond the limits of “adult contemporary,” pop and R&B (while allowing occasional rap features on her pop songs), she seems totally at sixes and sevens when tasked with blending in seamlessly to the dance-centric rhythms of house music. Her one additional verse contribution also lands flatly with regard to “serving,” and, indeed, even reads like it was generated by AI as well: “I’m so done with sharing/This hypocrisy with you/Baby, you have been rejected/Go back, no more pretending, bye.” It’s almost like a bad imitation, lyrically, of Beyoncé shouting, “Tell him, ‘Boy, bye’” on “Sorry.” 

    The fact that nearly every outlet that’s reviewed the original “yes, and?” has called out the noticeable homage Grande gives to Madonna on this song adds to the overall feeling of how thudding this remix sounds. Because, (yours) truly, if anyone was going to help with the remix, it ought to have been Madonna. Carey could have easily been put on ice (something she’s used to vis-à-vis Christmas storage) for a different remix of another song that might have actually worked better for her vocals. What’s more, while Grande may have already paid the ultimate compliment to Madonna by casting her as God for the “God Is A Woman” video, that Grande selected someone for “yes, and?” who has been so blatant about her contempt for the Queen of Pop in the past (as recently as all the shade thrown in her autobiography, The Meaning of Mariah Carey) is yet another pouring of salt in the wound of not “tapping” M to be involved with this homage to “Vogue” more directly.

    In any case, perhaps Madonna is still too busy with The Celebration Tour/riding high on the success of her feature on The Weeknd’s “Popular” to be concerned with this rather overt slight/misjudgment.

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • ‘Wicked’ First Look: Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in Costume

    ‘Wicked’ First Look: Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in Costume

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    We’re certainly not in Kansas anymore. The first official teaser for Wicked, starring Grammy-, Tony-, and Emmy-winning actor Cynthia Erivo and Grammy-winning pop star Ariana Grande, has been unveiled, revealing director Jon M. Chu’s Oz for the very first time. Now, VF has an exclusive portrait of Erivo and Grande in character as Elphaba and Glinda, the witches whose friendship-turned-rivalry fuels the story, as well as the first interviews with the cast and filmmakers.

    Grande and Erivo tell VF they’ve become inseparable friends while making the movie—matching Wicked tattoos and all—and sound thrilled to be together again so soon after the shoot wrapped in January. “I actually told my mom I was really relieved we don’t have to miss each other that long,” says Grande.

    As for Glinda and Elphaba’s relationship, Grande says it’s defined by “a really selfless love and friendship. They’re both each other’s first real friend, a person who accepts them for everything that they are.” Erivo seconds that: “Once they figure out that they’re actually different sides of the same coin, they see each other clearly.” She hopes Wicked can teach an important lesson: “We are all different and the same, and the differences that we have actually make us really special. Hopefully we use those differences to introduce ourselves to one another. We aren’t pushing people away because they’re different, but we’re opening up because they’re special.”

    For Chu, Wicked is more than a megahit Broadway musical. “This is the American fairy tale,” he tells Vanity Fair. “We are in a time where we are reassessing the story of life in America. What is truth? What is a happy ending? Is the yellow brick road the road to follow? Is someone really there on the other end who’s going to give you your heart’s desire?”

    The first installment of Wicked seeks to answer those questions and more. Book writer Winnie Holzman and composer Stephen Schwartz, who adapted the Broadway show from Gregory Maguire’s novel, collaborated with Chu and Wicked producer Marc Platt to adapt the stage production for the screen. The result was apparently so splendiferous that the team felt Wicked needed to be not one but two feature films. Part one takes flight on November 27 this year. The second hits theaters November 26, 2025.

    “We didn’t want to end up making one four-hour movie and then cutting out songs. We want to satisfy the fans of the musical,” says Platt. “Film allows you to create a place and a time—a university like Shiz, an extraordinary Emerald City governor’s mansion. There’s so much more to explore.”

    Finally, we now have a glimpse at those worlds, inspired by L. Frank Baum’s classic novel and Joe Mantello’s stage version. Chu’s film realizes the hallowed halls of Shiz University and the viridescent streets of Emerald City in the most opulent way possible. “Wicked on the biggest screen had the opportunity to be the grandest, most spectacular, epic musical experience of all time,” Chu said. “It was just like, ‘Let’s put everything into this.’”

    The glittering cast also includes Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Fellow Travelers star Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Tony nominee Ethan Slater as Boq, newcomer Marissa Bode as Nessarose, and Jeff Goldblum as the legendary Wizard of Oz.

    In this portrait, taken by Sophy Holland, Grande wears a bubblegum-pink gown and tiara reminiscent of the outfit Glinda the Good wears when she first encounters Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Erivo, meanwhile, sports Elphaba’s really, uh, sharp witch’s hat. The pair stare directly into the camera, two friends ready to face their destiny.

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    Chris Murphy

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  • Universal Pulls Licensed Music From TikTok, Leaving Many to Watch Silent Taylor Swift Videos

    Universal Pulls Licensed Music From TikTok, Leaving Many to Watch Silent Taylor Swift Videos

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    Olivia Rodrigo’s music was pulled from TikTok today after the short-form video platform fell out with Universal Music Group. Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Lionsgate

    Today (Feb. 1), Universal Music Group (UMG), which houses megastars like Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo, officially removed its artists’ music from TikTok after its licensing agreement with the short-form video platform expired and the two companies failed to reach an agreement on artist royalties. TikTok users can no longer use UMG artists’ licensed songs in their videos.

    UMG published an open letter to TikTok on Jan. 30 accusing the platform of underpaying its artists and allowing A.I.-generated songs that mimic the vocals of famous artists like Drake to thrive on the app. TikTok responded with a harsh statement alleging UMG has “put their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters.”  

    According to TikTok, 88 percent of its users believe that music is essential to the platform’s experience. In order to work better with the major music labels, who are oftentimes at odds with TikTok, the social platform created the TikTok Commercial Music Library to house licensed music from labels like UMG for creators to use in their videos. But UMG said TikTok only accounts for only 1 percent of the music conglomerate’s revenue “despite its massive and growing user base, rapidly rising advertising revenue and increasing reliance on music-based content.”    

    Some sounds are still available to hear, but not for use. On Ariana Grande’s TikTok account, for example, the official version of her new single “Yes, And” can still be played. But when you click on the sound, a message pops up saying the “copyright owner hasn’t made the sound available in your country.” Many other sounds have disappeared completely, as in this Taylor Swift video and this Ice Spice video.

    It’s unclear how much the actual user experience will shift without UMG music. Many licensed songs by UMG artists that become popular on TikTok also include concert footage, live renditions and snippets of their songs that may not be pulled. Remixes of UMG artist’s songs made by regular TikTok users like this one posted by Olivia Rodrigo are also popular on the platform and are often beloved as much as the original versions.   

    Universal Pulls Licensed Music From TikTok, Leaving Many to Watch Silent Taylor Swift Videos



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    Nhari Djan

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  • UMG Says You Can’t Listen To Taylor Swift On TikTok

    UMG Says You Can’t Listen To Taylor Swift On TikTok

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    Part of the music industry in today’s world involves promoting via social media – especially on platforms with mega-influence like TikTok. Artists will tease songs, new artists will be discovered on the platform, and if a sound goes viral tracks can resurge and soar into popularity. You saw it with songs like “Kill Bill” by SZA and “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus.

    Well, bad news. As of February 1, Universal Music Group (UMG) has taken their artists’ music off TikTok after accusing the social media platform of offering unfair reimbursement to artists and allowing AI to generate recordings using an artist’s voice. In an open letter on its website, UMG states,

    “TikTok’s tactics are obvious: use its platform power to hurt vulnerable artists and try to intimidate us into conceding to a bad deal that undervalues music and shortchanges artists and songwriters as well as their fans,”

    And the drama doesn’t stop there. In a brief response, TikTok snaps back with,

    “TikTok has been able to reach ‘artist-first’ agreements with every other label and publisher. Clearly, Universal’s self-serving actions are not in the best interests of artists, songwriters, and fans.”

    Who Does UMG Represent?

    Screenshot from TikTok Jai Phillips

    Among UMG’s lengthy list of artists are: Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Harry Styles, Blackpink, The 1975, Beyonce, Rihanna, Lana Del Rey, and Lewis Capaldi. In the heated letter released by the music label, they mention how TikTok began to take the music down of their smaller artists, but kept their bigger names that generate revenue for the app in an effort to control them. As UMG’s response, they took every single artist away.

    What Happens To UMG’s Music On TikTok?

    @noahkahanmusic thanks love you guys #newmusic #stickseason #noahkahan #noahkahanmusic #forever ♬ Angel – Sarah McLachlan

    That means videos using popular songs like Harry Styles’ “As It Was” or Lana Del Rey’s “Say Yes To Heaven” are now met with “This Sound Is Not Available.” The only sounds under names like Olivia Rodrigo and Noah Kahan are fan-made edits and manipulations of songs.

    This means both TikTok and the music industry will change a bit. A lot of artists will have less of an interest in building platforms on TikTok, because it’s not like they can play their music there. TikTok itself will have to focus on edits behind a lot of their “Get Ready With Me” videos and “Target Haul” clips.

    It’s a standoff between the largest record label in music industry history and the biggest social media platform in the world.



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    Jai Phillips

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  • Ariana Grande Wraps ‘Wicked’ Filming With Emotional Message: “I Will Never Forget Even a Minute”

    Ariana Grande Wraps ‘Wicked’ Filming With Emotional Message: “I Will Never Forget Even a Minute”

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    Ariana Grande has officially finished filming the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked, and it’s safe to say it was a memorable chapter for her.

    The singer-actress reposted a message from director Jon M. Chu on her Instagram Stories Thursday, which read, “Will never forget my year with our Galinda. Can’t wait for you to meet her. Thank you @arianagrande for pouring your heart into Oz.”

    Grande added her own heartfelt response to the post, writing, “I will never forget even a minute of my year(s) with her either. Or you. Or my Cyn [Cynthia Erivo]. Permanently and preferably intertwined. I am so inexplicably thankful that we got to add so many soggy eyelashes to the collection @jonmchu.”

    She continued, “There aren’t words quite yet. But. Thank you, Jon, for leading the way with such compassion, openness, brilliance and kindness. I have never seen someone conduct a space the way you do. I love you so much.”

    Grande plays Glinda, opposite Erivo’s Elphaba, in the highly-anticipated Wicked, which is being made into two parts. The films also star Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Jeff Goldblum, Marissa Bode, Keala Settle, Bronwyn James, Adam James and Bowen Yang.

    The “yes, and?” singer later wished Chu “an incredible beautiful last day [filming] tomorrow.”

    It appears the movie officially wraps filming altogether on Friday with Erivo, as Chu also added on his Instagram Story, “One more day left! @cynthiaerico are you ready?”

    Erivo said in response, “As ready as I’ll ever be!! Let’s goooooo!!!”

    Wicked: Part One is set to his theaters on Nov. 27.

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    Carly Thomas

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  • “Yes, And?” Video Pays Unexpected Tribute to Paula Abdul’s “Cold Hearted”

    “Yes, And?” Video Pays Unexpected Tribute to Paula Abdul’s “Cold Hearted”

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    “I miss the old Ari. You know, the singer.” So says one of the many invitees (all critics) to Ariana Grande’s performance art piece in Montauk (the location of which is given via the latitude and longitude coordinates on the business card shown at the beginning of the video). This milieu being significant because Grande’s seventh album is titled Eternal Sunshine—an obvious nod to Michel Gondry’s beloved 2004 film of the (almost) same name. Considering Grande’s dating history, the premise of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is rather on point. As is her choreo (courtesy of Will Loftis) throughout the heavily-inspired-by-Paula Abdul video. Indeed, one might as well call “yes, and?” a “modern update” to Abul’s 1989 video for “Cold Hearted,” the fifth single from her debut album, Forever Your Girl. 

    Directed by none other than David Fincher, “Cold Hearted” continued the trend (established by Madonna, as usual) of pop stars dancing in front of elaborate industrial set pieces (see: the “Express Yourself” video, also directed by David Fincher, and the “Rhythm Nation” video). “yes, and?” builds on that by centering the premise around a “living art exhibition,” of sorts. So it is that, just as is the case in “Cold Hearted,” “yes, and?” offers a caption at the beginning. But instead of reading, “Tuesday 9:45 a.m. The Rehearsal Hall. The Record Company Executives Arrive,” it reads, “11:55 AM. The Critics Arrive.” All of them with something snarky to say (in the spirit of the intro to Missy Elliott’s “Gossip Folks”). Including two critics who have the exchange, “Did she really do that?” “Well I read it on the internet so it must be true.” This replacing the once more relevant go-to line of sarcasm: “I saw it on TV so it must be true.” 

    They then enter the warehouse-y space where a series of “stone sculptures” stand in highly deliberate poses as the critics take their seats. The “Ari sculpture” is at the center of them all, posed with her hands over her eyes to indicate the classic “see no evil” philosophy. Or, in this case, “see no haters.” As the critics start to get impatient with what they’re supposed to be getting out of this little “exhibit,” the sculptures break apart and fall to the ground as the actual people they’re modeled after appear on the scene. Directed by Christian Breslauer (marking his first collaboration with Grande), the camera then focuses in on Grande’s feet before panning up the length of her legs to then reveal an aesthetic that is entirely reminiscent of Keira Knightley’s in Love Actually. Because what is Ari if not adept in the art of pastiche (though perhaps not as much as her one-time collaborator, Lana Del Rey)? As any post-post-post-post-post-post-modern pop star tends to be. 

    Continuing to emulate Abdul and co.’s fierce, defiant choreography, Grande offers occasional moments of “Renaissance painting poses” to keep reiterating the notion of being living art. Or, as Del Rey said, “I had a vision of making my life a work of art.” As such, that technically means she can be critiqued herself as much as the art she actually puts out. Hence, the presence of the critics subbing out Paula Abdul’s record executives. 

    Critics who can’t help “gagging” when Grande urges, “And if you find yourself in a dark situation/Just turn on your light and be like/Yes, and?” The musical breakdown just before she urges people to “turn their light on” sounds a lot like the one in Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy.” But considering Grande is giving a massive homage to dance and house music of the 90s in general (including, of course, Madonna’s “Vogue”), it’s not out of the question that the “nod” is deliberate. At the moment she talks about people turning their (inner) lights on, a heating lamp lights up above the critics’ head, as though to envelop them in the same warm glow she’s chosen to bask in no matter what gets said about her. Some critics don’t exactly “like” it, with one starting to sweat profusely as he wipes his forehead with a napkin in a manner that could also indicate Grande’s body (“too thin” or not) is getting him hot and bothered (the same way Paula Abdul gets the record executives in her video).

    As all the art critics proceed to start removing articles of clothing under the heat of the lamp, Grande approaches with, let’s call it an “aura tuning fork,” as she calmly recites the bridge of the song: “My tongue is sacred, I speak upon what I like/Protected, sexy, discerning with my time/Your energy is yours and mine is mine/What’s mine is mine/My face is sitting, I don’t need no disguise/Don’t comment on my body, do not reply.”

    Of course, that demand likely won’t stop the usual barrage of body commentary that rakes in the millions for the beauty and fashion industries. In the final line of the bridge, Grande then wields her coup de ​​grâce, “Why do you care so much whose dick I ride/Why?” Probably because the dick is Ethan Slater’s and it’s kind of weird/non sequitur (Wicked co-star or not). Even more than choosing “Cold Hearted” as a piece of pop culture to emulate. 

    But anyway, the “yes, and?” then concludes with another shot re-creation from the “Cold Hearted” video, with the curtain dropping off the window while Ariana and co. return to their same positions as statues made of stone to then await the next batch of critics they’ll perform for. The first batch, meanwhile, has turned from the stone statues they were before walking into the warehouse and into warm hearted lovers of Ariana as one of them shouts with delight to the others going in, “You’ll just love it! You’ll love it.”

    The same “conversion” from hater to lover goes for the record executives in “Cold Hearted,” who enter the building with the cynical exchange, “So have you even seen this dance?” “Uh, I haven’t but, uh, it’s a Bob Fosse kind of thing. It’s gonna be really really hot.” “Yeah but tastefully. It’s tastefully hot. And hey, if there’s any problem, we can always make changes.” The director of the video nervously reminds, “Uh, we’re shootin’ tonight.” But of course, there’s no need to change a thing because, by the end (just as it is the case in “yes, and?”), the execs are left with their jaws dropped. Though, of course, all they can say is it was “nice.” So it is that Abdul’s video concludes with the caption, “The dancers laugh.” Probably at the fact that it’s so hard for critics to admit when something is good (though, in their defense, that’s quite possibly because things rarely are). Especially when the artist in question’s personal life has a tendency to cloud the focus on the work itself. 

    In this sense, pulling from Paul Abdul’s video arsenal does make some sense when tying this message back into the concept of the “Cold Hearted” premise.

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • Ariana Grande fires back at homewrecker allegations in “Yes, And?” video

    Ariana Grande fires back at homewrecker allegations in “Yes, And?” video

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    Grande has wiped her Sweetener Instagram page and replaced it with promo for the new album, which fans believe could be named Eternal Sunshine. In the “yes, and?” music video, there’s a set of coordinates in the opening shot, written on the critics’ invitations. The coordinates are for Montauk, New York, the famous setting of the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. Grande commented a heart under one fan page’s post about the theory, which many took as unofficial confirmation.

    Internet detectives also theorise Eternal Sunshine could be a tribute to Grande’s ex Mac Miller. In an interview with Complex in 2013, while they were dating, the late rapper spoke about his love for the film. “I love Jim Carrey when he’s being serious. He killed this role. Whenever I’m talking to a girl, I always tell them to watch Eternal Sunshine. It cuts deep,” he said at the time.

    X content

    This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

    What’s the vibe for AG7?

    Red lipstick? Grande, who rarely ever wore red lipstick prior to 2023, has been wearing the shade a lot lately, even on the cover art for “yes, and?” (According to Grande, that image will also be the album cover.) That’s about all we have to go on at the moment, besides the optimistic, confident themes of “Yes, and?” Its energy is very reminiscent of the popular sassy GIF of Grande on a red carpet mouthing the words, “What about it?”

    Judging by the lead single’s lyrics, owning her narrative and breaking her silence on the constant media speculation and scrutiny around her divorce and new relationship could also be major themes. Grande actually teased the single in early January, stepping out in a crewneck sweatshirt with the words “yes, and?” written in her signature lowercase across the chest.

    This article originally appeared on Teen Vogue.

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    Kara Nesvig, Kaitlyn McNab

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  • Madonna and Improv Influence Ariana Grande’s “Yes, And?” 

    Madonna and Improv Influence Ariana Grande’s “Yes, And?” 

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    For a minute there, Ariana Grande had a reputation for releasing new music as frequently as Rihanna once did (the singer-turned-makeup mogul could formerly be relied on for an album a year). That reached an apex in the time period between summer of 2018 and winter of 2019, when Grande famously released the one-two punch of Sweetener and thank u, next in the span of six months. Part of that rapidity stemmed from being creatively inspired by the storm of personal events that transpired in the months after Sweetener’s release, including the death of her ex, Mac Miller, and her breakup with then fiancé Pete Davidson (who Grande put on the map, dating-wise). Grande’s prolificness didn’t let up in 2020 either, when she gave the world a prime example of “pandemic pop” in the form of the Positions album. 

    Soon after the release of that record, Grande announced her engagement (again) to “celebrity (a.k.a. luxury) realtor” Dalton Gomez. This was also after the news that she had been cast as Glinda in the film version of Wicked (because turning musicals based on movies into musical movies is all the rage now). A project that also consumed her enough for her to announce that she would not release new music until production was over. Now, going on four years since Positions was released, Grande is ready to reintroduce herself. And, of course, throw some shade at one of the latest scandals to have affected her “brand” in the headlines: that she’s a homewrecker willing to wreck a home for someone who looks like Ethan Slater, her co-star in Wicked (who, appropriately, plays a munchkin with a crush on her). As for Slater’s high school sweetheart, Lilly Jay, the two divorced soon after the announcement of Grande’s relationship, with Jay commenting, “[Ariana’s] the story really. Not a girl’s girl. My family is just collateral damage.” And yet, even to Jay, Grande would likely quip, “Yes, and?” That two-word phrase being most known for its association with improv philosophy until now. 

    What’s more, the “and what?” (just a synonym for “yes, and?”) vibe of it is also associated with another pop star. The mother of all pop stars, as it were: Madonna (someone Ari is no stranger to collaborating with). Because, indeed, it isn’t just the sound of the song that emulates Madonna’s house-inspired “Vogue” stylings (something Beyoncé also wanted to resuscitate recently with “Break My Soul” [cue another “Queens Remix” instead featuring Ariana and Madonna] and Renaissance as a whole). It’s also the “I don’t give a fuck what you think” aura that Madonna has exuded, specifically, since 1985, after nude photos of her from her pre-fame days were sold to Playboy and Penthouse. Rather than cowering in shame or “apologizing,” as was usually the case in those days, Madonna was the first woman to stand up for herself in such a scenario and say simply, “So what?” Deciding that what she did for money before she was famous was her own business, and she oughtn’t be judged for it, even if the photos were splashed across these glossy men’s magazines for all to see. This unprecedented reaction on the part of a slut-shamed famous woman prompted the iconic New York Post headlines: “Madonna on Nudie Pix: So What!” and “Madonna: ‘I’m Not Ashamed,’ followed by the subtitle, “Rock star shrugs off nudie pix furor.” (Both front pages that would be “arti-ified” by Keith Haring and Andy Warhol.) With those simple two words, Madonna paved the way for Grande’s own: “yes, and?” 

    Of course, the danger of that is how people will now start using it to justify objectively egregious acts, like, say, murder (just imagine how bad “yes, and?” would be received if Israel suddenly started adopting it as its mantra while bombing Palestine, or if Russia did the same in its actions toward Ukraine). And yes (not to be confused with yes, and), we do live in a society where certain kinds of murder are glorified, even applauded (see: Gypsy-Rose Blanchard). Certain kinds of grotesque behavior in general, mostly related to the debasing things people will do for money. One might even say, in her allyship, Grande is ultimately hollerin’ for a dollar when she says, “Boy, come on, put your lipstick on (no one can tell you nothin’).” Because obviously it benefits her makeup brand’s sales to encourage all genders to wear it. Being an “ally” in the process is just an added bonus. 

    In addition to alluding to her “homewrecking” ways (though nothing will ever compare to the homewrecker’s anthem that is Marina and the Diamonds’ “Homewrecker”), Grande also references her body being commented upon back in April of 2023. When she chose to respond to the wave of comments about how “thin” and “unhealthy” she looked with a video. One in which she stated, “I think we should be gentler and less comfortable commenting on people’s bodies, no matter what [Billie Eilish had a similar, blunter statement to make on “Not My Responsibility”]… You never know what someone is going through. So even if you are coming from a loving place and a caring place, that person is probably working on it.” This comes back again in “yes, and?” when she sings, “Don’t comment on my body, do not reply.” Not to mention the Britney-centric declaration, “Your business is yours and mine is mine” (it all has the decidedly tongue-in-cheek tone of Spears’ “Piece of Me” video).

    Grande’s positivity doesn’t extend just to the body, but also to finding light in dark situations (a running motif in her work since Sweetener, when she repeated, “The light is coming to give back everything the darkness stole” on “The Light Is Coming”). Thus, she urges, “Yes, and?/Say that shit with your chest.” In other words, stick out your chest with pride (another subtle gay allyship allusion), hold your head high, etc. Grande then adds, perhaps anticipating the fallout for daring to live one’s “most authentic life,” “Be your own fuckin’ best friend.” It’s a sentiment that echoes the sologamist verse on “thank u, next” (indeed, Ari appears to want “yes, and?” to make even more direct reference to that track when she sings, “Keep moving like, ‘What’s next?’). The one that goes, “I ain’t worried ’bout nothin’/Plus, I met someone else/We’re havin’ better discussions/I know they say I move on too fast/But this one gon’ last/‘Cause her name is Ari/And I’m so good with that.” As she also seems to be on “yes, and?”—even if currently “riding the dick” that is Ethan Slater’s. A tabloid tidbit she addresses with, “Why do you care so much whose dick I ride?/Why?” Probably because celebrity worship/envy and the according “need” to know everything about their personal lives has been an ongoing part of our culture at least since the dawn of film.

    In truth, celebrities would probably be a bit disappointed if no one cared whose dick they were riding, but that’s another story/psychological analysis. Besides, no one wants to “overthink” too much with a song like this playing, its infectious house rhythms (ready-made for striking poses on the ballroom dance floor courtesy of production from Grande, Max Martin and ILYA) likely to infiltrate LGBTQIA+ spaces the world over in no time. 

    To be sure, the release of new Ari music always feels best at the beginning of a year, as thank u, next did. Punctuating it with so much initial hope before people start to notice a few months in that shit is not only still the same, it’s probably getting worse. To which government officials might riposte, “Yes, and?”

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • Ariana Grande Shared a Cryptic Response to ‘Assumptions’ About Her Relationship

    Ariana Grande Shared a Cryptic Response to ‘Assumptions’ About Her Relationship

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    As the year comes to an end, it seems as though we’re finally getting Ariana Grande’s response to those Ethan Slater cheating rumors. The “Thank U, Next” singer took to her Instagram Story to reflect on the rollercoaster that was 2023 and address some of the lingering “assumptions” about her personal life.

    “One of the most transformative, most challenging, and yet happiest and most special years of my life,” Grande began her Instagram Story, which she shared on December 29, 2023. “There were so many beautiful and yet polarized feelings.” This year, the 30-year-old pop star landed a role in the forthcoming Wicked film alongside her now-boyfriend, Ethan Slater. She touched on her career, writing, “I’ve never felt more at the mercy of and in acceptance of what life was screaming to teach me. I’ve never felt more fulfilled by or present in my work, being able to cherish every moment.”

    She continued, “I gave everything I could have possibly given of my heart and of myself to the projects I was fortunate enough to be a part of and learned so much from every brilliant, beautiful, soul that I had the privilege of creating art with and crossing paths with this year.”

    Despite the excitement these new projects brought her, Grande opened up about feeling “misunderstood” throughout the year. “I have never felt more pride or joy or love while simultaneously feeling so deeply misunderstood by people who don’t know me, who piece whispers together and make what they want out of me and their assumptions of my life,” she wrote. While she didn’t name any names, her comments seem to address recent backlash following her divorce from Dalton Gomez and her new relationship with Slater.

    The pair, who started dating in July 2023, were both recently linked to other partners before their relationship began making headlines. Grande allegedly separated from Gomez in the weeks leading up to her new romance, whereas Slater also called it quits that month with his high-school sweetheart Lilly Jay, whom he was married to since 2018. The timeline of their respective splits sparked rumors that they cheated on their partners, with one source telling Us Weekly in July, “Ethan sat Lilly down a few days before the news broke about him and Ariana and said that he wanted a divorce. Lilly never saw it coming!”

    But after months of speculation, it seems Grande is finally attempting to put the rumors to rest and speak her truth. “I am listening to and trusting myself, even when fear or trauma tells me not to,” she wrote on her Instagram Story. “I am reacting to things that deserve my energy only and removing and protecting myself from things that do not.”

    The R.E.M. beauty founder went on to wish her fans a happy new year. “If you ever feel misunderstood or alone, just remember that it will pass and you are not,” she concluded.

    Just a day before Ariana’s heartfelt message, a source close to the couple revealed to People that their romance has reached a “serious” level. “Ariana is serious with Ethan,” the insider shared. “She loves being with him.” The source also emphasized the normalcy of Ariana and Ethan’s connection, sharing that they “mostly enjoy staying in” despite occasionally venturing out. If this is any indication, it looks like we’ll be seeing more of these two in the new year!

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    Jenzia Burgos

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  • Ariana Grande Opens Up About ‘Most Challenging’ Year In Cryptic Instagram Post

    Ariana Grande Opens Up About ‘Most Challenging’ Year In Cryptic Instagram Post

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    Many were quick to interpret the post as Grande’s response to the online frenzy surrounding her relationship with “Wicked” co-star, Ethan Slater.

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  • Cynthia Erivo Opens Up About Her ‘Special’ Connection To ‘Wicked’ Co-Star Ariana Grande

    Cynthia Erivo Opens Up About Her ‘Special’ Connection To ‘Wicked’ Co-Star Ariana Grande

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    Erivo, who is set to play Elphaba in the film adaptation of the musical, described what “just works” between the two.

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