Petal, Ariana Grande’s eighth studio album (Florida, 33 years old), debuted with great success on July 31. Its track Hate that i made you love me accumulated 62.2 million streams in the first 24 hours after its release, and the music video for Petal leads the YouTube music trending chart. Still, just a look at the video’s comments shows that what is catching users’ attention is not the song or its melody, but the singer’s physical appearance, who has been talked about for years due to what many consider extreme thinness. “It’s not about wanting the old Ariana back. It’s about wanting her to be healthy,” says one of the comments with the most Likes. “At this point, I’m judging her team, friends, and family. This is crazy,” or “She is surrounded by people who cover for her. Eating disorders are not a game,” say other highly praised comments by the artist’s followers.
Grande, who will conclude her Eternal Sunshine Tour on September 1 in London, has not commented on the matter, but her representative has, announcing that the actress will take a break soon due to the “constant scrutiny” over her physique. “Ariana will temporarily step away from public life after finishing the Eternal Sunshine tour,” her representative told People exclusively on Sunday, August 2. “She is looking forward to finishing the tour on a high note, healthy and happy, and then taking a well-deserved break from her work and public appearances, which have subjected her to constant and relentless public scrutiny,” her representative explained. An explanation that has not satisfied many fans. “The fact that her team calls the response ‘public scrutiny’ instead of ‘genuine health concerns’ is very telling,” highlighted a user on YouTube.
Grande’s break also means she will not participate in the West End revival of Sunday in the Park with George, in which she was announced as the lead alongside Jonathan Bailey, her co-star in Wicked. “While the three-time Grammy winner finishes her Eternal Sunshine tour this summer, Deadline can confirm that she will follow it with a ‘well-deserved break’ and will not appear in the Stephen Sondheim musical directed by Marianne Elliott,” the film-specialized outlet announced on Sunday about her departure from the production, which is scheduled to premiere in summer 2027.
“We know it was not an easy decision, and she makes it with our full understanding and support. We wish her all the best,” the show’s theatrical producers told the Daily Mail on Monday. They also confirmed that the show will go on and that the cast will be announced “in due course.”
In April 2023, Grande opened up on her TikTok account, where she has 43.5 million followers, about “concerns” regarding her body. “There are many different ways to look healthy and beautiful. Personally, the body they are comparing my current body to was the least healthy version of my body. I was taking a lot of antidepressants, drinking alcohol with them, and eating poorly. That was the lowest point of my life, and many consider it the time when I was healthiest. But no, that was not healthy,” the artist said, then in the middle of filming Wicked.
According to her representative, “this tour has been a wonderful experience” for her. “She adores her fans and has enjoyed every minute immensely,” they told People. “Her show is very physical and requires a lot of athletic skill. She performs healthily and successfully at a very high level night after night,” a source close to Grande defended her in statements to the American outlet, emphasizing her good health.
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The singer’s physical appearance and health have been a topic of public debate many times over the past years. In her song Yes, And? from her 2024 album Eternal Sunshine, she herself alluded to these comments. “My face is sitting, I don’t need no disguise. Don’t comment on my body, do not reply. Your business is yours and mine is mine. Why do you care so much whose – I ride? Why?” she sings in one of the verses. According to a source close to Grande who spoke to People, this new album is also “a fight song, an anthem about the love-hate relationship with the public and its toxicity.”
Despite her temporary break, the singer and actress has participated in a project scheduled to premiere on November 25. It is the comedy Now the In-Laws Are Them, the third part of the movie starring Ben Stiller and Robert de Niro, The In-Laws. Grande plays Stiller’s daughter-in-law, a former FBI negotiator. It remains to be seen if she will participate in the film’s promotion then.
