Ariana Grande’s new music video has ignited concern among fans, with many focusing not on its satirical storyline but on how thin the singer appears on screen.
In the video, Grande plays a character named Pepper, an aspiring star who fails a series of auditions. A group of powerful studio executives tell her she is unmarketable, unattractive, and insincere, and accuse her of having a personality disorder. When one of them tells her they miss her old self and suggests she go find it and come back to try again, Pepper leaves and returns moments later with a chainsaw. After killing the executives, she walks back into the waiting room covered in blood and is met with enthusiastic applause from the other women waiting to audition.
Despite the video’s social commentary, many fans turned their attention to Grande’s weight. Some compared her appearance to that of Karen Carpenter. Others said they were tired of normalising it and pretending it was acceptable, calling what they saw shocking and heartbreaking. Comments included pleas for her to eat and observations that her bones were visibly prominent.
Other fans pushed back, arguing it was inappropriate to comment publicly on her body at all. One supporter said that if people truly cared about her, they would not make public remarks about her appearance, while another suggested jealousy was behind some of the criticism.
Grande has previously spoken about years of public scrutiny over her looks, saying she has been observed like a specimen in a petri dish since she was 16 or 17 and has heard every version of what people think is wrong with her. She has also said she believes modern society has developed a comfort with commenting on others’ appearance, health, and personal lives that should not exist.
