Real People Are Being Impacted By The Actions Of Ariana Grande And Her Team, And That’s Why We Have To Talk About It
This article mentions disordered eating and anorexia. If you are struggling, please contact the National Alliance for Eating Disorders on (866) 662-1235 if you’re in the US, or Beat on 0808 801 0677 in the UK. You can also visit their websites for resources, help, and more information.
This post is an Op-Ed and shares the author’s personal views.
A note on this discussion: It is important to make it absolutely clear that this article is not claiming or suggesting that Ariana Grande herself has an eating disorder of any kind. Ariana has never publicly said that she does, and has repeatedly stated that she is healthy. This commentary is solely about how the imagery that Ariana and her team are actively choosing to create and share with her fans seems irresponsible, and can dangerously impact people living with or recovering from eating disorders. Regardless of Ariana’s personal circumstances, imagery that evokes or appears to glamorize eating-disorder aesthetics can be triggering and harmful to vulnerable audiences. This discussion is directed at the imagery and its potential consequences — not Ariana’s body, health, or any possible diagnosis.
On Friday, I watched Ariana Grande’s music video for her new single, “Petal,” with a mixture of outrage and sadness swirling in the pit of my stomach as what felt like the disturbing culmination of an incredibly troubling couple of years unfolded on my screen.
If you’ve somehow managed to miss it, the video arguably goes to great lengths to accentuate the 33-year-old pop star’s protruding bones that have become more and more apparent as her already-tiny frame has shrunk in front of our very eyes since filming for the first Wicked movie kicked off back in December 2022.
When discourse and concern first started to crop up a few years ago, it was immediately shut down under the guise of it not being appropriate to publicly discuss somebody else’s body. Ariana herself has also pushed back at the conversation; in 2023, she insisted in a social media video that she was healthier than ever, and in her 2024 single “Yes, And?” she sings: “Don’t comment on my body, do not reply.”
