Ariana Grande has asked fans to be "gentler and less comfortable" about commenting on how other people's bodies after getting response to her own changing appearance. The singer-songwriter said in a social media video that she "wanted to address" concerns about her body that the public have been talking about for a "decade or longer".
Ariana, 29, posted her video to TikTok in which she referenced recent concern about her appearance from fans, while claiming that she was healthier than ever. Before getting started, Ariana admitted to the camera: "I don’t do this often. I don’t like it. I’m not good at it.
"But I just wanted to address your concerns about my body and talk a little bit about what it means to be a person with a body and to be seen and to be paid such close attention to,' she continued. The two-time Grammy award-winning artist, who has faced comments on social media about her weight and messages suggesting that her face has changed over time, added: "I think we could be, I think we should be gentler and less comfortable commenting on people’s bodies, no matter what.
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"If you think you’re saying something good or well-intentioned, whatever it is, healthy, unhealthy, big, small, this, that, sexy, non-sexy … we just should really work towards not doing that as much. There are ways to compliment someone or to ignore something that you see that you don’t like, that I think we should help each other work towards… We should aim toward being safer, and keeping each other safer."
Ariana, who is known for her plethora of pop hits including 7 Rings, Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored and Thank U, Next, kept her social media video casual and filmed it in selfie mode against a bank of windows while wearing a grey zip-up hoodie over a pale pink tank top.
"I also just want to say: one, there are many different kinds of beautiful," she went on to say. "There are many different ways to look healthy and beautiful. And personally for me, the body that you’ve been comparing my current body to was the unhealthiest version of my body."
She explained that she was "on a lot of anti-depressants" and "drinking on them," which is usually not recommended because of dangerous interactions. Ariana also admitted she was "eating poorly and at the lowest point of my life when I looked the way you consider my healthy..."
She clarified that the years-old version of herself 'wasn't my healthy', adding: "I know I shouldn’t have to explain that, but I do feel like maybe having an openness or vulnerability, something good might come from it. That’s the first thing, healthy can look different."
She also reminded her fans that they're not actually friends with her, and therefore they don't know details about her physical or mental health. "You never know what someone is going through so even if you’re coming from a loving place or a caring place, that person probably is working on it or has a support system that they’re working on it with," she continued.
Ariana, who is currently filming in London as Glinda Upland in the upcoming Wicked film based on the hit musical of the same name, then concluded by showing her to support to those who may have faced similar comments to her on their bodies and appearance. "You’re beautiful no matter what phase you’re in," she declared.
She then added: "By the way, I’m not wearing eyelashes or eyeliner right now, this is my face, these are my eyes, so don’t freak out about that now too please, oh my God," before concluding her exposing video: "Sending you guys a lot of love and I think you’re beautiful no matter what you’re going through, no matter what weight, no matter how you like to do your makeup these days, no matter what cosmetic procedures you’ve had or not or anything.
"I just think you’re beautiful and wanted to share some feelings. Have a very beautiful day and I’m sending you a lot of love." She then uploaded the video to the video-sharing platform with a simple white heart before fans quickly flooded her with support.
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