Ariana Grande has been extra popular lately due to her role as the peppy-and-pink Glinda in Wicked. And with that popularity comes commentary on her appearance, both good and bad.
It hasn’t been new for Grande to be put under a microscope—or as she puts it in a recent interview, a “petri dish”—since she was a teenager. In an interview with French journalist Sally, the actor and pop star addresses the recent comments she has received on her body and how harmful they can be.
“I have heard it all,” she says alongside co-star Cynthia Erivo. “I’ve heard every version of it, of what’s wrong with me, and then you fix it and then it’s wrong for different reasons.” She explains why it was especially damaging to hear comments on her body and weight as a child: “You’re young and you’re hearing all kinds of things, it’s hard to protect yourself from that noise. It’s something that is uncomfortable no matter what scale you’re experiencing it.”
It goes beyond being in the spotlight; anyone can experience the challenges that Grande has faced being critiqued on her appearance, and she gives a timely example.
“Even if you go to Thanksgiving dinner and someone’s Granny says ‘Oh my God, you look skinnier, what happened?’ or ‘You look heavier, what happened?’ It’s something that is uncomfortable and horrible no matter where it’s happening, no matter the scale it’s happening on,” she says. “I think in today’s society, there’s a comfortability that we shouldn’t have at all commenting on others’ looks, appearance … or health, or how they present themselves, from what you’re wearing, to your body, to your face, to your everything.
“There’s a comfortability that people have commenting on that that I think is really dangerous, and I think it’s dangerous for all parties involved,” she continues.
This body positivity messaging is not new from Grande. Last year, the “we can’t be friends” singer made a TikTok confronting body-shaming comments on her social media feeds, saying “You never know what someone is going through.” And her 2024 single “yes, and?” even touts the lyrics: “Don’t comment on my body, do not reply / Your business is yours and mine is mine.”
We applaud Grande and fully agree that commenting on someone’s weight never has a place. In fact, our nutrition editor Jessica Ball, M.S. RD explains why, when even well-intentioned, commenting on someone’s body can be more damaging than encouraging.
“There are a lot of reasons that commenting on someone’s body and appearance can do more harm than good. First, weight loss or smaller body size does not always mean that someone is healthier (or less healthy). There are numerous important markers of health that are unrelated to weight like hydration, activity level, sleep quality and stress management,” shares Ball. “Besides being generally judgmental, commenting on someone’s body also perpetuates diet culture and the idea that we all should be striving to look a certain way. Everyone has unique circumstances, preferences, genetics and habits, and reducing them to their appearance doesn’t acknowledge the whole picture.”
As for advice that the Wicked star has for others that may be having a hard time with unsolicited comments from family members or social media, here’s what she has to say.
“However you all can protect yourselves from that noise, whether it’s at a family reunion or online—you got to block people, I don’t care if you delete the app entirely, you keep yourself safe because no one has the right to say s***,” Grande states. We’ll cheers our pink champagne to that!
