The “Thank U, Next” singer and star of Wicked is midway through a worldwide arena tour, has just released a new single, and was due to debut on the West End next year. Yet over the weekend, a representative for Ariana Grande unexpectedly announced a change to her schedule. Grande, 33, “will be taking a step back from visibility” when her Eternal Sunshine tour ends in London on 1st September owing to “endless, ongoing public scrutiny.”
The representative didn’t specify the nature of this scrutiny, but said her tour would close out “on a high note, both healthily and happily.” A source reiterated to People magazine that Grande “performs healthily and successfully at a very high level night after night” – appearing to reinforce that it is the speculation over her appearance that is driving her out of the spotlight.
The announcement is further proof that Grande is no longer willing to tolerate the vitriol of her critics. On Friday, she released the music video for her latest single, “Petal” – a two-fingered salute to those seeking to tear her down. Playing a pearl-clad actress who, at an audition, gets picked apart by a panel of naysayers, and takes her revenge chainsaw massacre-style, later emerging from the room covered in blood.
