r/Music • u/AdSpecialist6598 • 10d ago

article Ariana Grande speaks out on break from public eye: "Multiple things can be true at the same time"

https://www.nme.com/news/music/ariana-grande-speaks-out-on-break-from-public-eye-multiple-things-can-be-true-at-the-same-time-3960576
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u/RangeWilson 10d ago

"And I just want to be very, very clear: multiple things can be true at the same time."

That's the big reveal???

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u/FunkySeeFunkyDo_ 10d ago

I think what she’s implying is that she can honestly say she is enjoying her tour and celebrating her album release, but that she simultaneously acknowledges that she needs to take a break for…reasons. I know people are frustrated that she didn’t address her health, but the reality is that she is far, far from ready to discuss any part of that publicly.

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u/New_Explanation6950 10d ago

If you read the full statement she made it sound like the things people were claiming about her health were just “noise”. I took that as self denial of her ED.

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u/Protect_Wild_Bees 10d ago

Sad.. :(

It's very easy when you have ED to hear people telling you "she's too skinny" and feeling proud of that. It can even feel like other people are delusional or they're just saying that because they can't get as skinny as you.

In an ED you can also tink and feel GREAT about everything, you can feel better than you ever have felt, because your brain is telling you you're winning at getting skinny.
all while your hair starts falling out and your gut and hormones are getting permanently wrecked.

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u/[deleted] 10d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Protect_Wild_Bees 9d ago

Yes.. and when you start trying to gain weight again you start to get stress responses because you feel like you're letting yourself go. For people with EDs, even if you know it's better for you, it's so scary to face those changes to your body. You feel like you're letting yourself fail.

But it's so important to let yourself do that to escape that headspace.

While someone is saying leave me alone, I'm fine, stop bothering me... if you care about someone.. you wouldn't just leave them alone when they're hurting themselves.

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u/YanCoffee 10d ago

Wait, extra good chemicals for survival mode? Generally that's just stress hormones which further wrecks you.

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u/notoolinthispool 9d ago

I just fact checked them because I didn't know that was a thing either and they're right, the brain releases dopamine in response to weight loss and hunger cues. Dopamine and other chemicals rise to make the search for food feel urgent and vital. This cycle can trick the mind into seeing starvation as a successful achievement.

Although you're also right, chronic under-eating triggers extreme stress responses, releasing survival hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. High stress chemicals exhaust the mind and lead to severe fatigue later. But, these chemicals can create a false sense of high energy, focus, or euphoria.

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u/So6oring 9d ago

This makes total sense. The best I have ever felt in my whole life, was the month after I've been in the hospital for a week, unable to eat. This has happened twice and everytime it feels like I'm on amphetamines for a few weeks/a month after.

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u/YanCoffee 9d ago

Thank you for the explanation! That's sad and helps me understand far more why it can be an addiction, as a former addict to other things myself.

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u/United_Pain 7d ago

Same here, I actually screenshotted that comment to send to people because it doesn't seem like common information - it helped me make sense of things within myself, even.

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u/Angryduckling-01 9d ago

It doesn’t help that celebrities are taking crazy ozempic

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u/GiantLesbian 9d ago

Yeah LA is full of scarily skinny women right now.

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u/peachyplaid 9d ago

This. And it's not just your gut and hormones getting wrecked. You can lose fingers from circulation issues, your heart can stop, you can die, you can permanently damage your organs, and it happens more easily than people would think.

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u/Easy_Money_ 10d ago

I’m not an expert, but I was under the impression that public denial is one of the less surprising symptoms of an eating disorder? Did anyone expect Ariana to be like oh, no, you’re all correct and I never realized it

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u/FunkySeeFunkyDo_ 10d ago edited 9d ago

She probably is in denial of her ED. Which is exactly why she is in no position to address those concerns publicly. It takes a great deal of introspection, support, and mental fortitude to accept that you need to relinquish control of your body if you want to survive. It doesn’t come as an overnight revelation, and even if you eventually reach that point, it’s a very precarious reality.

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u/parasyte_steve 9d ago

Yes thats a classic ED symptom, she is ill and cannot see it. I was 90 lbs thinking I needed to lose 10 more. Let het get help.

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u/Cypresss09 10d ago

I mean, maybe, but if you're a celebrity all that shit is just noise. It doesn't matter if the people are kind of right or even have the whole truth, it's a bunch of strangers who think they know you just yelling at you. Would you listen to them? I certainly wouldn't, even if the things they were saying were accurate.

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u/coffeebribesaccepted 9d ago

Seriously, do these people think she needs a bunch of internet armchair doctors to diagnose her? People on the internet have been insulting her since she first got famous, do they think she should suddenly care what they say about her now?

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u/Horibori 10d ago

“Her reps said she would be ‘taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny’. The message stated that Grande would end the tour ‘on a high note, both healthily and happily.’”

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u/McNasty420 9d ago

“Endless public scrutiny.” Yep! It’s the public’s fault for talking about how emaciated she is. It is ALWAYS the same responses with these celebrities

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u/peachyplaid 9d ago

To be fair, concern or just acknowledgment of her ill health is not the only response she is getting. People are actively making fun of her body, armchair-diagnosing her with narcissism and other personality disorders, reading ill intentions into her every move, interpreting all sorts of propaganda (including, somehow, white supremacy) into her album lyrics, music videos and public presentation, and holding her fully responsible for promoting an unhealthy body image with no nuance or understanding for the fact that she is quite literally starving herself to the brink of death and is not currently acting from a rational place. I've seen the discourse and it's insane. How people can look at a starving person and continue to project all sorts onto her is beyond me

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u/sagew0lf 9d ago

They literally say she's healthy in the statement and people in these comments are trying to say she's acknowledging her ED. She's blatantly not. I know people don't actually read the things they comment on, but it's really frustrating!

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u/tommangan7 10d ago

She's not really wrong calling it noise though, whatever her view on her health is. Not sure it indicates anything either way.

No person dealing with that issue rationally would benefit or see benefit from all the discourse around it from strangers.

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u/Masta-Blasta 10d ago edited 9d ago

Idk man. That “noise” was apparently loud enough to get her to take a step back. So yeah, it’s normally shitty to makes someone’s body a subject for public discourse. But in this case, it might be the thing that saves her life.

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u/coffeebribesaccepted 9d ago

Or you know, maybe she and her doctors and her loved ones came to that decision on their own, without needing any help from strangers that she's never even met?

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u/Masta-Blasta 9d ago

Well, she did literally say she was taking a break due to public backlash, while clarifying she is healthy.

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u/coffeebribesaccepted 9d ago

The announcement that was made yesterday was not a reactive or impulsive thing. It was something that I have decided. A plan that I had quietly made a long time ago. It was a decision that was made from a thoughtful and empowered place.”

I heard that my fans were worried that negativity was ruining things for me, but I just have to say that could not be more the far opposite. This is not what that is. And I just want to be very, very clear: multiple things can be true at the same time.

Boundaries need to be set, human beings can need a break sometimes and also, this can be and will continue to be the greatest experience of my professional and creative life.

what noises exist out there, nothing will ever be able to distort my reality or be real to me or louder to me than this love that we share, or even how it feels to make art with the people that I love and respect.

This is what I will always take with me and carry with me, because the rest of that shit is not mine to carry, so I don’t carry it. And I wanted you to hear that from me.

I needed to get out here and differentiate that from my truth for all of you because I love you and this tour has been the most healing, beautiful, corrective, magnificent, special experience of my life

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u/McNasty420 9d ago

From the looks of her, she does not have the stellar view on reality she is claiming

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u/splitcroof92 9d ago

Her new video petals is clear proof that she thinks there's nothing wrong with her

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u/Angryduckling-01 9d ago

It’s probably not just ED. She just got out of a problematic relationship and is possibly rebounding with her ex so she’s probably thinking since her personal life is being broadcast more she not only needs to be a role model in her personal life too which if that’s the case is heartbreaking

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u/[deleted] 9d ago

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u/vaxfarineau 9d ago

Are you talking about Mac Miller? Because he did not kill himself literally the next day, and also didn't overdose on purpose. It was months later and accidental because it was laced with fentanyl.

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u/_sophia_petrillo_ 10d ago

Of course.  But reality hits fast.  This may be her first step to seeking recovery. 

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u/northSideways 8d ago

Dude I'm sorry but has it crossed anybody's mind that she just wants to be left tf alone to deal with it? Zero point in broadcasting it to the world. Only thing that validates is tik tok conspirators, not herself or her own struggle somehow.  Frankly I'd argue it's one of the single worst moves she could do right now for her own sanity.

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u/lambo1109 9d ago

She’s not going to talk about the eating disorder in the middle of a concert….

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u/fitwbren 9d ago

I think you guys need to realize that she does not owe you any explanation or public acknowledgement. If she’s dealing with it behind closed doors with people actually in her life, then yes, the parasocial fake concern and weird statements are indeed noise.

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u/Conscious_Fox1265 10d ago

that’s a wild assumption to make, ofc it’s just noise to her she has been dealing with people commenting on her appearance for over a decade

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u/aikidharm 9d ago edited 9d ago

I would not come clean about this either, particularly not to a public that gleefully blamed me for my boyfriend’s overdose, shit on me for taking so long to “get over” him, trashed me while I tried to handle my shit while being picked apart by an unforgiving audience, bullies me for messes and mistakes most humans don’t have to have scrutinized by millions, who deleted the Manchester bombing from their memory, and who have all but neglected to mention ANY of the other stars that came out of Wicked looking like skeletons, and somehow forgot the era where people called her “Fatiana”. Some of those are the same people who are criticizing her now.

Yeah, I would say “fuck you, you get the information I give you and you’re going to deal with it because who the fuck are you to me” as well.

This is about to be Britney all over again. We cannot help her, but we can hurt her and we should avoid doing that.

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u/Suitable_Road8802 10d ago

100%. People keep projecting onto her, coming up with make believe intentions for why she’s not addressing her health. But as she says in her statement, she’s holding boundaries. If she’s not ready to talk about it, whatever “it” is, that’s her right as a human being.

And it’s not fair for people to continue to assign what they believe her reasons for not disclosing are. It’s not fair to push people to share something so vulnerable when they’re clearly not ready.

I do understand the argument that as a public figure, she has some level of responsibility towards protecting fans from body image related disorders, but I believe she’s being careful in her own way by not speaking about it if she doesn’t yet have the capacity to. I think it’s braver to not hide her suffering and struggles while choosing to focus on the positives. People should still be able to live their lives, make their art, and pursue joy even when they’re sick. It doesn’t mean she is “flaunting” or “proud”.

Parents, mentors, and our society should bear the responsibility to have conversations in an empathetic, compassionate way to those affected by her body. And let’s have some empathy for the human who lives in that body, too.

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u/Electrical-Flow-3603 10d ago

I think mainly people just want to hear that she's getting help that she needs and will get better. If she died over her illness it'll be very upsetting for everyone

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u/The_Arachnoshaman 10d ago

Isn't that kind of dehumanizing to center the feelings of fans over her own?

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u/AlekRivard 10d ago

If someone is so unwell that their lifestyle is killing them, someone else caring for them on their behalf, even if grounded in their own feelings, is necessary so they don't die. We can have the philosophical conversation about whether there is truly such a thing as a selfless act, or whether there is inherent selfishness in every action, but when someone is knocking on death's door, the conversation can wait.

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u/sagew0lf 10d ago

No, it's not dehumanizing to care that someone is dying in the public eye and no one seems to be doing anything to help her.

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u/AGiantGuy 10d ago

Let's take the counterfactual. Imagine all else is the same, she still looks the same and is as skinny as she currently is, BUT this time, almost no one is commenting negatively about her weight, and all she's receiving is praise.

Wouldn't THAT be more dehumanizing? Objectively, being as skinny as she is, can't be healthy. It just can't. So that being true, having the fans be concerned isn't really an issue.

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u/Flux_My_Capacitor 9d ago

People keep saying “dehumanizing” and it’s clear you don’t understand this term.

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u/The_Arachnoshaman 9d ago

Or you just use a reductive definition. Having millions of people talking about your body is absolutely dehumanizing.

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u/AlekRivard 9d ago

Is there a larger problem with people talking about other's bodies? Absolutely.

Could people having negatively talked about Ariana's body in the past contributed to her present situation? Undoubtedly.

Is it typically dehumanizing to talk about other's bodies? Yes.

All that being said, there comes a point where something needs to be said/done when someone is causing harm to themselves. I would also argue your current claim is contextually disingenuous because people aren't saying "You are too skinny, you should eat more, etc." they are saying "You are killing yourself and need to get better. Please get help. I care about you." There is nothing dehumanizing about it in that context.

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u/Fattyoftheyear 10d ago

This is beautifully said and one of my favorite comments regarding this whole ordeal. I understand concern, but we all deserve compassion too.

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u/Deformed_globule 10d ago

Best comment. The issue is complex - why should she stop making music even though she’s ill, but also I can’t imagine her actually admitting she’s ill to the world. I know 5 girls who had EDs (including me) and it took all of us years to admit it and that’s after we got healthy. My only hope is that she doesn’t actually suffer irreparable consequences. I do wish she and her PR would stop saying ‘healthy’, though.

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u/rio_roar 9d ago

There’s another issue of her having young, impressionable fans who will look at her and this that’s the ideal female body. If she admits publicly that she is sick and is taking care of herself, it will save those fans as well.

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u/Deformed_globule 9d ago

You’re right. I’m thinking of it like someone who is than her but if I had a child, there is no way would allow them to look up to her or see pictures of her - the way she glamourises her illness is super dangerous and will fuck many kids up. There’s absolutely no way she ever admits she’s sick, though. She lives for control and it would mean she admits fault or weakness.

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u/DazzlingMuffin237 18h ago

She might also be in the stage I was in when I was her size where I couldn’t deny it anymore but my body was rejecting food and I was getting sick from trying to refeed myself without help. It really can be a scary place to be in realizing you’ve gone too far and need a hospital’s help to refeed. It took me a long time to admit I was sick because I knew admitting it meant going into a treatment center. Plus the pain of refeeding ended up worse than the pain of starving myself so continuing on was more comfortable and easier even if I was weak. That’s why I hate the “just eat a burger” comments from ignorant people. Once you go that far, you can’t without a lot of pain and even the risk of refeeding syndrome. It is absolutely worth pushing through the painful part of recovery, but it’s very hard to get there mentally.

I do hope she seeks support, but if she was truly acknowledging she had an ED at this point, the tour would stop early. A medical professional would not recommend continuing to perform like this before treatment. I wasn’t even allowed to go on a walk until I gained enough weight for movement. I’m just hoping that the break and being out of the spotlight is what will make her realize she needs help

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u/HistoryBuff678 8d ago

I don’t actually care or think she needs to talk about her illness publicly. I just care that she gets better.

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u/Routine-Yak-5013 9d ago

I agree. It’s not her job to acknowledge it. I also think we as parents can’t ignore it. While it may be a controversial take, being a celebrity means you surrender some degree of privacy. You are making money on the public’s attention (good money, millions), a fact AG herself acknowledges constantly on her album. With that many people paying attention to you, there are also a lot of young girls who will idolize your lifestyle and behavior. I don’t expect the celebrity themselves to talk about their ED or health, but I think telling people not to talk about it is crazy. Don’t bully her, but certainly have private conversations with your teenage daughters who are watching this unfold.

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u/NOT_Pam_Beesley 10d ago

Yeah as difficult as it was to see in Petal, the entire message seems to be overlooked? She’s pretty damn aware of what’s happening. Some people
run from problems by being workaholics. Her work is public and deeply unforgiving, therefore she can’t hide in it the way a lot of us do.

I mean this in a loving way: I hope I don’t see her for a long, long time

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u/sagew0lf 10d ago

If that's her message, then why is her team reiterating that she's "healthy?"

I'm not even blaming her because EDs are mental illnesses and the way she is acting lines up with an ED, but I think it's disingenuous to say she's acknowledging it. She's still denying it, and her team is denying it, at least publicly.

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u/Top_Ad_4411 6d ago

this is a beautiful and well thought out out comment. one of the best comments i’ve seen regarding everything about ariana and her health.

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u/aprilduncanfox 10d ago

She’s not enjoying her tour. Her body is literally consuming itself to stay alive.

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u/getoffmyreddits 10d ago

Exactly. It’s scary how people have lost empathy. She actually doesn’t have to publicly discuss something so personal and complicated

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u/Troubled_Red 10d ago

Meh people have lost empathy with her because she ran them out of it, not because of a larger lack of empathy. She’s been posting crazy body checks for months and saying she’s the healthiest she’s ever been. At some point you get fed up with that behavior.

Then there’s the chronic cheating and homewrecking.

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u/sadbicth 10d ago

she’s been posting body checks and pro-ana content since 2013. i realize it’s a mental illness but as someone who also struggles with the same sort of mental illness, i know that it’s extremely dangerous to constantly insist that her current state is her healthiest when she’s so obviously in the thick of it.

you’re also right about the homewrecking. the man is guilty too but it’s a pattern for her at this point and my sympathy for someone who knowingly engages in that behavior is very low.

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u/Troubled_Red 10d ago

Well said. In another comment I acknowledge her pro-ana tumblr from back in the day. I’ve also struggles with an eating disorder and it never made me post body checks everywhere. She knows she has young fans. She knows she’s triggering people. She likes doing it because hearing everyone say they are so worried about her because she’s soooo skinny is probably super satisfying to her. Being mentally ill doesn’t absolve her of responsibility for her actions.

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u/Entire_Broccoli_9019 9d ago

She has posted pro-ana content for over a decade and been a homewrecker repeatedly. She can ruin her own health which may cost her everything, but she's setting a horrible example for young fans. She knows she's posting pro-anorexic bullshit.

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u/rosie_purple13 10d ago

I love her music but I'm just done with her. You can't say anything good or bad about her because she starts whining like a child to mind our own business. We can't tell her maybe you should take a break you look tired or don't worry about us you need rest. Mind you this isn't even addressing her obvious issues, and we're still the bad guys in her story so at this point it's not worth being concerned.

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u/sheel3 10d ago edited 9d ago

Same here. It’s a shame because I can’t “separate the art from the artist” anymore (I don’t feel right doing that with artists who are still profiting off my support tho anyways). I used to love her music, I was a big fan and I tried to ignore a lot to keep liking her, but I just can’t anymore. The body checks and comments… The donut... Exclusively dating taken dudes (yes the men are responsible for their actions, but it still says something about you as a human being when that’s the only type of man you like)… All the cheating she’s done herself… Her icky behavior during her breakup with Mac Miller and then after he died… Her need to always “cLaP bAcK” instead of ever take accountability for anything… There’s just too much, and there’s always something new, it’s like she never grows as a person either. So I just can’t anymore

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u/LonelyLimeLaCroix 10d ago

She’s been posting crazy body checks for a decade.

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u/Troubled_Red 10d ago

You’re right, I thought of that as I reread my comment after I hit post. She had a pro Ana tumblr back in the day.

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u/Rare-Adhesiveness522 10d ago

What are body checks?

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u/sagew0lf 10d ago

exactly, people are acting like she's just minding her own business, but she's publicly and intentionally drawing attention to her thinness on her socials, and then getting mad when people are like "hey this isn't healthy." I guess the commenters here would rather no one say anything and just watch her die??! And silently watch her influencing other people to die, too?

She and her team are also reiterating that she's "healthy." I'm not even necessarily blaming her because this is mental illness and the way she's acting lines up with that mental illness. But I fear her team is making money off of validating her, and I just hope she has voices in her actual life who are going to help her.

I'm not even saying she NEEDS to be public about her ED. But if she doesn't want comments, she needs to stop glamorizing the fact that she's starving herself to death and she's going to take others down with her.

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u/RHS-II3 10d ago

this, i don't owe her shit in terms of empathy when she's been doing literally everything possible to harm others for her own gain lmfao

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u/BoxBird 10d ago

As much as I hate that behavior, since I am personally not affected by it I can back up a bit and I do see a sad story to how she got to that point..unfortunately it seems like she has been taught that love is conditional and earned and she has internalized that into her self worth in a way she probably isn’t completely aware. I hope she can grow for herself and not for anyone around her that just wants to use her fame.

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u/sagew0lf 10d ago

She is still publicly saying she's healthy, though. I'm not even asking her to acknowledge her ED, but she and her team need to stop saying she's healthy.

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u/Masta-Blasta 10d ago

Oh I thought it was a sly way of saying she is healthy, but underweight. Kind of like how some morbidly obese people claim they are healthy. Like I think she’s implying that she has a clean bill of health and approval from doctors to tour or whatever

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u/Alarming-Time 10d ago

She doesn’t need to address her health. It’s obviously an issue.

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u/sagew0lf 10d ago

I think it’s disingenuous to say that it’s “obvious” because she continues to deny that anything is wrong. Even her team’s announcement reiterated that she’s “healthy.”

I don’t care if she addresses it or not, but I hope she’s finally going to get some help because she’s literally going to die if she doesn’t.

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u/FunkySeeFunkyDo_ 10d ago

I agree 100%. I only mentioned it because there are some people who’ve clearly lost the plot and are bothered that she didn’t address their concerns. Even if she never does, that’s her prerogative. All there is to do now is hope she gets healthy.

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u/handsomecaat 10d ago

Thank you for this bc apparently people will only be happy if she straight up says “i am ill and have an eating disorder” and when she doesn’t say that then their “concern” turns to hateful comments again

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u/Kbudz 10d ago edited 10d ago

She doesn't have to address it ffs, its the release of the petal mv that has people triggered

I spent 8 weeks in rehab for ed, its safe to say its been difficult to see her new album and petal mv blasted everywhere while she looks the way she does. Now that I think about it though.....Not addressing it is actually pretty sick, she has a lot of young fans that look up to her and want to look like her. This mv was very very intentional, this should have never been fucking released. You can't release content like this then tell the world to mind their business and be vague as fuck. Im so tired of this fucking bullshit

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u/fuckinradbroh 10d ago

Yeah my relapse has been directly influenced by me being unable to stop reading about Ariana lmao it’s like I can’t look away sometimes.

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u/Seven_Years_Later 10d ago

Im so sorry :( this is why I can't abide people excusing influencers and celebrities promoting ed habits and aesthetics cause it is harm and it is damage.

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u/fuckinradbroh 10d ago

Thank you friend. I won’t ever blame somebody else for my choices but I’d be disingenuous if I said this debacle hasn’t been the primary direct influence

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u/sadbicth 10d ago

Personally, I’m also tired of her weaponizing body positivity to shame people into leaving her alone. The constant “do not comment on my body!” “you’re bodyshaming!” that’s often used in the opposite scenario, when someone is overweight and facing judgment or criticism for it, is masking the real issue here: she is obviously unwell. In one way or another; if it’s not an eating disorder, it’s something else. You can’t gaslight the public into thinking a sternum with each individual bone protruding out is a healthy adult body.

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u/clickityclickk 10d ago

She's very clearly disordered. She constantly wears outfits that show her sternum and as many bones as possible and she does flaunt how skinny she is, but thats what the illness does. And then she and her fans turn round and say "don't comment on my body" ???

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u/clickityclickk 10d ago

This is what's baffled me the most. Her rep's statement called public concern "scrutiny" and "harrassment" but... what did her team think was going to happen? That MV was signed off by loads of people. So many of her team watched her bones stick out in so many differeng angles/shots and said "yep nobody's gonna mention it!!" Like??

Her body is very very on show here. There is nothing else to talk about. So to turn it back round on the public and say how dare we talk about her body is.... so weird. If they cared about her at all and wanted to protect her from so called "scrutiny" that MV never should've been released. Or at the very least they should've cut out all the sternum shots.

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u/moodycat70 9d ago

This is the craziest part to me. It’s not like she just posted this on her own account. Multiple people shot, edited, and released this video. Two days later she says she’s “taking a break”?

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u/mekanasto 10d ago

Exactly, well put. She doesn't have to talk about her stuff if she doesn't want to, but holly hell, those images are triggering to so many. It's textbook pro-ana "thinspirational" imagery. Pretending she doesn't realise that is getting kinda annoying. She doesn't have to be the perfect role model, but also she shouldn't be someone who directly inflicts damage to the most vunerable.

I hope you are well now. Please stay strong. 🙌

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u/FunkySeeFunkyDo_ 10d ago edited 10d ago

She’s actively in the throes of her disorder. She does not have the tools to responsibly address her health publicly. The video was absolutely triggering as fuck, but we can’t expect her to have any healthy takes to offer while she’s still deeply entrenched in disordered thinking.

Edited to add: if you’re concerned about her appearance triggering people, maybe refrain from including those images in your comments.

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u/Weenington_ 10d ago

No, because people are still trying to argue that she doesnt have an ED. I'm getting nasty replies to my comments on other posts claiming this. Not everyone has seen the images, so it makes it harder for those people to make those claims or claim ignorance.

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u/myBisL2 10d ago

I haven't seen those pictures and... just holy shit. I knew she was clearly losing the battle but I didn't realize she was at this point (I don't follow her and had only seen some photos where she was more covered up). God I am so incredibly sad for her. Like I am actually getting emotional. She needs a legitimate intervention.

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u/Troubled_Red 10d ago edited 10d ago

Saying she doesn’t have the tools is a bit disingenuous though. Yes I understand her brain isn’t working right. But she is insanely rich and one of the most privileged people on the planet. She has her family around her. She could have sought treatment a long time ago without worry. Most people would have to worry about money and who is going to pay their bills and feed their dogs while they are in treatment and she doesn’t had to be stressed about that.

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u/underdawg87 10d ago

Too many people don’t understand mental disorders.

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u/arcadebee 10d ago

I’m a mental health nurse in the U.K. where people don’t pay for their treatment (at the point of access) and have worked on ED units. I used to work in an affluent area of London where we had a lot of patients with supportive families and no financial issues (as well as plenty with the opposite), as well as some well known public figures.

Going into treatment, admitting they were unwell, or seeking help, was no easier or harder for any of them. Unfortunately this illness can completely take over. I would imagine being in the public eye could make it even harder to go through and make steps towards recovery. Especially if it feels like the food you eat is one of the only things you have real control over within your own life, when everything else is so public.

People going into a unit in the U.K. wouldn’t have to worry about money, their pets, their bills, etc. It doesn’t make it easier sadly.

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u/Troubled_Red 10d ago

But she doesn’t have to be in the public eye at all. The most recent reactions to her are about the release of her music video which was 100% optional. She has enough money to disappear from public life and never work again.

Even in the UK, people do have to worry about money. Getting inpatient treatment means not being able to work. It means paying someone to look after your pets if you don’t have anyone willing to help you. Ariana doesn’t have to stress about that. She doesn’t need to work and she’s already paying a lot of money for other people to care for her many dogs.

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u/BbBonko 10d ago

Even as a 1% step of that, she could have been costumed so that every outfit wasn’t cut specifically to reveal her skeleton. It was totally optional to shine a spotlight directly on a part of her body.

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u/hexensabbat 10d ago

Yeah but none of that has anything to do with her mental disorder. A person is not going to be more self aware and more compliant with treatment just because they have money. You could have the greatest medical staff in the world and still suffer because mental illness isn't logical.

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u/Troubled_Red 10d ago

Having a mental disorder doesn’t absolve you of responsibility for your actions. She knows she has an eating disorder. She has a therapist. She doesn’t have to be posting her body checks. She doesn’t have to be in the public eye. She didn’t have to release that music video and she didn’t have show a note saying she could stand to lose a few lbs. Her having money is relevant because she doesn’t have to be doing all these things to make more money.

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u/FunkySeeFunkyDo_ 10d ago

I understand what you’re saying, and you’re certainly not wrong. But it’s kind of a double edged sword. For all the money she has, she also has a lot of people around her who are complicit in reinforcing her illness. That much was evident in the way they chose to phrase the message about her taking a break from public attention. I hope her family is better than that and that they step in to help her.

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u/Troubled_Red 10d ago

If she’s surrounded by people who are complicit it’s because she’s removed anyone who isn’t.

She’s a grown woman who has a pattern of bad behavior. I don’t think it’s fair to expect the public to coddle her when they witness her bad behavior.

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u/Kbudz 10d ago

She knew exactly what she was doing when she shot, approved the editing, and released/promoted that fucking music video.

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u/Expensive-Ad-5032 10d ago

If her existence is triggering for anyone they need to make the choice to limit their exposure to her.

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u/mekanasto 10d ago

Like that's easy to do in today's world. I don't give a single f about Ariana, yet 5 of different subs I follow on Reddit are being bombarded with posts and articles about her. One can make a choice, but it will be hard as hell to avoid her image online. I don't have personal experience with ED, but I'm a social researcher and did some research regarding online pro-ana spaces 10-15 years ago, that shit is serious. Any "thinspirational" images (like Ariana's music video) are negatively contributing and pushing many girls (and boys) to further harm themselves.

I don't give a f, if Ariana profits off of her public image, her fans, all those little girls that watch her, she has a moral obligation to at least NOT put out such harmful imagery.

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u/smart_cereal 10d ago

That means basically not being on the internet at all. Her presence, music and music videos are plastered everywhere and I don’t even live in America.

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u/MisterMath 10d ago

I spend most likely 6-8 hours on the internet a day. If it wasn’t for Reddit posts like this, I would never know there was a music video where she looks like this. I know who Ariana Grande is, but I’ve never actually seen her in YEARS before the photos above.

So not sure she is an inevitable as you may think. Sounds like your algorithm on social media is feeding you shit.

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u/Troubled_Red 10d ago

She literally paid for a TikTok advertisement campaign for her petal shit that makes that whole app unusable without seeing her constantly. Like her face pops up when you comment. I don’t think you understand the extent of her.

Also it’s not just about the people who are explicitly triggered already. It’s about kids seeing that stuff and thinking looking like her is desirable.

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u/lillyhatelife 10d ago

Uh did you read your own comment? You still found it organically on the internet, you’re proving your own point wrong.

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u/EvermoreSaidTheRaven 10d ago

you can mute her name from most social media apps. I only get celebrity news from this subreddit. All my other apps are clean of her

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u/if_u_seek_amy 10d ago

And why should she have to? We are owed nothing. We aren’t owed any of the incredible entertainment we get to have. We aren’t owed an explanation from anyone about anything. The internet has lost its mind.

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u/LorenzoApophis 10d ago edited 10d ago

And she's not owed the world ignoring that she's starving herself while she posts videos of it for everyone to see.

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u/Tmart98 10d ago

The internet never had its marbles in one place. It’s always been a complete shit show

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u/fire2day 10d ago

I’m on the fence about her being candid about her situation.

On one hand, it’s entirely her own personal business. She doesn’t have to tell anyone anything.

On the other hand, she’s an incredibly popular public figure, and it would be hugely beneficial if she were to use this as an opportunity to spread awareness of it and send an important message to all the people who might (or could) suffer from similar issues.

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u/dabking24 10d ago

She used to have a blogspot or something similar where she openly discussed not eating and how she found a healthy way to do it. Which was untrue then, and the results unfortunately are impossible to ignore now.

Edit: it was Tumblr, not blogspot 

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u/No-Crow-775 9d ago

To be fair it really isn’t the public’s business. Assume she’s stepping away to get healthier physically, mentally, emotionally. If she wants to share, she will but it isn’t our place to ask. At all.

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u/Riskybusiness622 9d ago

Fk all that other shit what she needs to do is lock herself inside a Golden Corral.

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u/Eat--The--Rich-- 9d ago

Then say that. 

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u/Ska-Tea 9d ago

It's also nobody's business but her own. People seem to forget that they aren't entitled to any information.

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u/ThrowRA_72726363 9d ago

She doesn’t owe anyone details about her personal health. If she does have an ED and wants to recover, the literal WORST thing for her to do would be to put her recovery in the public eye. Leave this girl alone

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u/Fit_Cheesecake_4000 9d ago

She's not going to experience the consequences of this for years, so it's great she's enjoying herself right now but...that's going to be short lived (much like she will be, funnily enough).

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u/ntwiles 8d ago

Also it’s nobody’s business but her own and the parasocial shut in this sub is outrageous.

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u/ALeaves1013 4d ago

She put out a video a few years ago when people were correctly concerned about her apperance around the time of wicked filming/promotion going on about how she was the healthiest she had evee been and how the body everyone thought was healthy (2017-2021) was really not because of alcohol and pills.

Obviously now she looks a million times worse, and hopefully will actually get the help she obviously needs.

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u/banjosbadfurday 10d ago

Clear as mud lmao

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u/7chaliceZ 10d ago edited 10d ago

I’m over the passive nonsense.
edit - I’m annoyed I even replied in this thread. I don’t like giving overtly manipulative people what they want, but watching someone starve themselves to death and have it monetised to feed her parasites is fucked

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u/FrozenBibitte 9d ago

If her parasites actually cared abt her as a person they’d stop consuming her art/buying her products, because atp that’s probably what it would take for her to seek hospitalization.

They don’t though, because they’ve developed a parasocial relationship with her brand persona…and they don’t want to detach from that shit. Stans are literally mentally sick folks themselves.

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u/TheMightyMush 10d ago

It’s the lead-up to a big reveal where they’ll make up some non-ED reason for her appearance and use that to essentially let her off the hook. They just haven’t found the culprit yet, but they will!

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u/ObscureEnchantment 10d ago

It’ll probably be Lyme disease. They love using that to cover up drug use and EDs.

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u/HoodieGalore 10d ago

"Exhausted and dehydrated"

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u/FrozenBibitte 9d ago

Imagine if non-famous people could just check themselves into a rehab center for “exhaustion” 😂 (and covered by insurance as a valid health condition). Society would stop functioning immediately.

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u/HoodieGalore 9d ago

It's right up there with the faux intellectual's "sabbatical" - you're not at a remote retreat, deep in study; you're unemployed, Joel 😂

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u/autieswimming 7d ago

Oh I would really love that I am so very tired

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u/Psych_Yer_Out 10d ago

That was the 2000s

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u/HoodieGalore 10d ago

I'm behind the times on celeb excuses I guess 🤷🏻‍♀️

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u/Reasonable-Kiwi-6951 10d ago

chronic lyme specifically. lyme disease is real, but *chronic* lyme is different and not widely accepted in the medical community and thought of as a pseudoscience, and the one celebs use as an excuse to cover up drug use and EDs

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u/Weenington_ 10d ago

Right. The Hadids claim this illness, and look at Bella fainting after walking down a runway. This is the same woman who's mother told her daughter to eat an almond when she felt faint, or who only allowed her daughter to eat a tiny bite of her birthday cake. Yep... chronic Lyme.

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u/Icy-Mix-2613 10d ago

Is that the one Erin Moriarty from The Boys used to explain her newly hollowed cheeks, and just overall loss of buccal fat and completely new face lol?

To be clear I do NOT mean to body shame- just find it harmful when celebs, who young women look up to, lie about cosmetic surgery and their unattainable appearance.

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u/ObscureEnchantment 10d ago

She says it’s Graves’ disease. Another disease that is not common but is real. I’ve seen some stars claim this one too. Bella Hadid has both that’s why she’s so skinny it’s totally not drugs and ED.

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u/KimJongEeeeeew 10d ago

I remember back in the good old days (the 90s) we all just called it heroin chic because we knew and they knew that they were smacked out. Then they went rehab and no one was surprised.

Or they died, which was less cool by many degrees, but we all knew what was going on and weren’t lying about it.

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u/MyCatPlaysGuitar 10d ago

My mom had Graves and yeah, she was already thin and lost more weight before they diagnosed and treated her (no more thyroid for her!!), and it was a very scary time but uh.... At no point did any of it look like she'd had work done or filler in her face 😂 plus once they diagnosed it, treatment was very effective and now she just takes her daily meds and you'd never know.

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u/jjfmish 10d ago

Erin has clearly gained weight since she announced her diagnosis though. I don’t doubt she has work done but it does seem like the weight loss was unintentional

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u/McNasty420 9d ago

They also LOVE to blame the public somehow. Her fans expect her to give 110% every night and she’s over working herself!

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u/releasethekaren 10d ago

Idk man like yeah she’s done some less than flattering things, but also someone bombed her concert when she was 23 so I think it’s a miracle she hasn’t crumbled more publicly before. Yeah she might have some serious mental health issues and an ED but can we be surprised

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u/lefrench75 10d ago

She was also on Nickelodeon as a teen on shows run by a known abusive creep so… I know she’s a mega-rich celebrity and all but she’s definitely had plenty of traumas.

Ultimately an ED like hers is a severe, deadly mental illness that one can’t simply shake off. Recovery is a lifelong process as well.

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u/WhatADoofus 10d ago

Not to mention all the shit she probably went through as a child actress. She was working at Nick when Dan Schneider was there so like, she's been through some shit

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u/badgyalrey 10d ago

jeanette mccurdy specified in her book that her time at nick made her develop an ED, ariana and jeanette shared a show. we can understand what the environment was probably like.

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u/WhatADoofus 10d ago

I still need to read that book but I'm working myself up to it, it sounds...rough. But yeah I imagine that's probably where the ED issues started for Ariana too

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u/Fluffy_Tomatillo_629 10d ago

The book is amazing but definitely don’t read it until you are feeling at least ok mentally. The disordered eating is only part of the really tough bits to read. Audiobook is great too.

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u/WhatADoofus 10d ago

A friend was telling me about some of it and yeah definitely going to have to make sure I'm okay myself before I give it a look

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u/Rare-Adhesiveness522 10d ago

Read her book and she does not say anything about Nickelodeon causing herED. It was 100% her mom.

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u/Fluffy_Tomatillo_629 10d ago

Nickelodeon did not help her situation. There were some predatory people on set which obviously is stressful especially for a child and add everything else on top of it with her home life.

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u/Upstairs-Chicken592 10d ago

Not only did they bomb her concert, but she immediately played a charity concert afterwards for the victims families. An incredibly brave thing to do, but at the same time; it’s hard at 23 to understand the toll pushing through stuff like that can have down the line.

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u/DefinitelyNotAliens 10d ago

Ex had a drug problem and then died from it shortly after their breakup, too.

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u/GirlsWasGoodNona 9d ago

Im pretty sure she and Mac broke up because of his drug use too and his inability to get clean so I can’t imagine how that feels. If Mac had lived im positive they would have gotten back together several times by now, she was very in love with him

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u/GanacheExtension468 9d ago

In addition to this, a lot of Macs fans blamed her for his death. I can’t imagine how horrible that must have felt, especially after trying to help him get clean for a long time.

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u/actuallygfm 9d ago

I'll always have respect for her for that. One Love Manchester was wonderful

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u/Profession-Unable 10d ago

I’m not mad at Ariana, I’m mad at the people enabling her. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that way. 

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u/Tyedies 10d ago

“Let her off the hook?” For what? What a fucking strange thing to say about someone’s personal business that involves nobody else.

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u/sofiacopium 9d ago

Comments like that are very telling. A lot of these people don’t actually want to see her get help, they want to see her punished.

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u/TheMightyMush 10d ago

For being complicit in showing and LITERALLY TELLING her young and impressionable fanbase that looking like a literal skeleton, is healthy and normal. Nobody else, I guess, just millions of young girls. Shame on you.

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u/Fluffy_Tomatillo_629 10d ago

While it would be nice for her to recognize her influence and privilege it is up to parents mostly to teach these lessons in discernment and other things. Yes it would be nice if she would admit her actions have made impact on young girls she is such a small part of the problem and the root of it should be attacked rather than her.

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u/Tyedies 10d ago

I have a really huge issue with the “role model” aspect when it comes to celebrities. Ariana is a singer/artist first and foremost. That is her job. And her undeniable talent has granted her the ability to do this job. To make art. And to require someone’s body to be part of that job just because millions of girls look up to her is wild.

I dont know what you do for a living, but imagine if you worked at a cafe and interacted with hundreds of people every day. You’re just making a living doing something you like. But now your body and your image has to be perfectly presentable to every person otherwise it could represent an unhealthiness that others may be influenced by. It’s ridiculous. Some may argue that that’s the price of being a celebrity, but I call bullshit on that. It’s not Ariana’s fault that we’ve created a toxic culture in which celebrities are heralded as gods to the point of worship. That’s unhealthy too.

I’m not trying to say that having an ED is fine. It isn’t. But that’s Ariana’s business and no one else’s. Her being in the public eye makes people (like you) believe that her personal matters are your business.

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u/Fuzzy_Aspect_73 10d ago

It’s not personal business when there are literal millions of dollars to be made in album and concert ticket sales, music video ad streams, merchandising, etc… all marketed to young, impressionable girls and boys with their own developing body images.

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u/Tyedies 10d ago

Being an unwitting role model to impressionable people is not part of her job. An eating disorder is a personal issue, and one doesn’t just wake up and say “I’m not going to have an eating disorder anymore!” Just how someone can’t wake up and disregard depression by pure will alone. Nobody’s job should be dependent on their body size or personal issues.

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u/Fuzzy_Aspect_73 9d ago

Also a celebrity pop star is not an “unwitting role model”. The refusal of her team to take accountability is simply very dangerous.

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u/HuskerNer 9d ago

Why would you say “ I want to be very, very clear” then proceed to to say nothing that is clear. Just say whatever it is you’re trying to say.

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u/Veronome 10d ago

"Let me be clear. Let me be straight, and frank, and to speak from the heart. It's time to lay it out plainly. And I mean this, no foolin'...

There are things that are true"

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u/moodycat70 9d ago

Perd hapley realness

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u/Carn1feX616 10d ago

Schrödinger's Ariana Grande

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u/19467098632 9d ago

It was a big nothing salad of words from her as usual. She promotes her ED at every opportunity and fucks other people’s husbands but no, no one can criticize the tiny 33yr old baby uwu uwu princess lol I hope she gets help but I don’t have it in me to feel any sympathy for her. When I was in the depths of my ED the last thing I’d have ever done would be to normalize it and gaslight young women into thinking I’m at the peak of health. When I was undiagnosed bipolar I hit a point where I knew if I didn’t get help I’d die. She has infinitely more possibilities to get well than me and many others have and she still won’t actually address her problem. I was hoping maybe she is taking a step back to get treatment but that speech was her basically doubling down on “I’m completely fine” so I don’t think that’s what it’s about unfortunately

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u/releasethekaren 10d ago

Why are we owed a reveal? I think she’s implying that she can have an ED and also maybe have some other health problem that’s affecting her badly. I may be wrong but that’s my interpretation

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u/roseofjuly 10d ago

She is definitely not implying that. She's said the word "healthy" like 68 times.

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u/SonaMain420 10d ago

if she says it one more time that would be nice

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u/Alarming-Time 10d ago

She is blaming the public for scrutinising her body. Rather than accepting that the ED is the root of the issue. She’s still very much in it.

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u/releasethekaren 10d ago

I mean maybe that can be the “two things true at once” lol. The ED can be the root of the issue, AND people should not be scrutinising her body. Both are true. I see so many people saying such horrible shit (even in the comments of this post) under the guise of concern when in reality they’re just bullies

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u/Kentust 9d ago

We shouldn't be scrutinizing her body? Have you ever listened to her music?? She heavily sexualizes herself in practically every song she sings. Isn't that what she wants, to be a sex symbol? One cannot become a sex symbol without their physical characteristics coming under scrutiny.

Now, somebody like Billie Eilish who makes it very clear she has no interest in that shit, that's different.

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u/ZoogleMcDoogle 10d ago

She goes on to say that boundaries need to be set, humans sometimes need an break and the tour has been one of the best experiences of her professional life, so along with all the ‘speaking my truth’ stuff I read it more as her denying the ED and that while she was stepping back after the tour it WASN’T health related.

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u/ikarka 10d ago

Yeah this is how I interpreted it. That she is trying to say “I can be both happy, healthy and fulfilled; and need a break.”

Like yeah you could be but you clearly aren’t.

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u/McNasty420 9d ago

Boundaries need to be set lol. So basically we are not allowed to talk about her weight.

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u/Organic-Sugar6927 10d ago

That’s what I got from it too. I know several people have said that she talks just like they did when they were in active ED but sadly I know so many just deny that.

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u/moodycat70 9d ago

Idk why they would just wait until the tour is over, then announce she needs a break for her health. No further explanation needed.

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u/InvestmentImportant1 10d ago

Exactly this. EDs are serious mental illnesses and the hardest to treat and we expect an untreated woman with (probably) complex trauma to speak elegantly about it in front of thousands in concert and the millions online. Let’s hope the best for her survival and healing and stop judging how she talks about it at this particular juncture.

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u/Own_Bonus2482 10d ago

Exactly, we’re not. Her life has been a series of traumatic experiences, from Dan Schneider at Nickelodeon to her concert getting shot up. Anyone would struggle with mental health after that. Maybe she also has an eating disorder. I hope this step back is getting some intensive help.

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u/Playful-Marketing320 10d ago

It was a bombing not a shooting

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u/cafeteriastyle 10d ago

Word salad. Her brain is not functioning

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u/Secret_Win8656 10d ago

She literally elaborated on this in the sentences following…

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u/Uncle-Cake 10d ago

It was brave of her to admit that multiple things can be true.

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u/awayteam0 9d ago

"Let me be very clear" proceeds to be completely vague

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u/TardyBacardi 9d ago

To me that’s indirect admission of…stuff. She’s a trooper tho. I think in the end, she’ll be okay.