Ariana Grande‘s physical appearance has been dissected by the public numerous times over the years, but amid the rollout for the Wicked movies, the speculation has arguably reached a fever pitch — leading the performer to speak out about the issue once again.
In a post on Instagram Stories over the weekend, Grande posted a clip from a 2024 interview in which she discusses the dangers of openly criticizing people’s bodies in today’s society. “resharing this from last year,” she wrote Saturday (Nov. 29). “as a loving reminder to all.”
In the interview with French journalist Sally, the R.E.M. Beauty founder discusses how her body has been the subject of public discourse since she first rose to fame as a teenager. “I have heard it all. I’ve heard every version of it, of what’s wrong with me,” Grande said at the time. “And then you fix it, and then it’s wrong for different reasons.”
“It’s something that is uncomfortable no matter what scale you’re experiencing it on,” she continued in the December 2024 conversation as Cynthia Erivo sat next to her. “In today’s society, there’s a comfortability that we shouldn’t have at all commenting on other’s looks, appearance, what they think is going on behind the scenes, or health … I think it’s dangerous for all parties involved.”
The two-time Grammy winner’s post comes amid mounting concern for Grande’s health, with people online increasingly picking apart photos and videos — including shots of the star in Wicked: For Good, which premiered in November — of her, with many pointing out that she looks thinner than she used to. Others have speculated that the star is unhealthily slender — something she’s also addressed in the past.
“There are many different ways to look healthy and beautiful,” she said in a 2023 TikTok. “I know personally for me, the body that you’ve been comparing my current body to was the unhealthiest version of my body. I was on a lot of anti-depressants and drinking on them and eating poorly, and at the lowest point of my life when I looked the way you consider my ‘healthy.’ But that, in fact, wasn’t my healthy.”
“I think we should be gentler and less comfortable commenting on people’s bodies — no matter what,” she added at the time. “If you think you’re saying something good or well-intentioned, whatever it is. Healthy, unhealthy, big, small, this, that, sexy, not sexy … We just shouldn’t. We should really work towards not doing that as much.”
