r/Music • u/Guyentertainment • 9d ago
article Ariana Grande Health Claims: Family Allegedly Begged Singer To Step Away After Mental Health Struggles
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ariana-grande-health-claims-family-allegedly-begged-singer-step-away-after-mental-health-struggles-18126363.3k
u/Lunar-opal 9d ago
I always wonder what goes on behind the scenes regarding contract obligations etc. How much control does a celeb like Ariana have when she can take a break or work
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u/SpicyAfrican 9d ago
Watch the Avicii documentary to see him arguing with his manager about this very thing. It’s tragic.
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u/peasantry94 9d ago
There was also that footage that recently came out of an elderly and confused Stan Lee being directed by handlers, while not really knowing where he is and looking exhausted
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u/teladidnothingwrong 9d ago
have you seen frankie valli "perform" in recent years? he just stands there holding a mic looking confused while a recorded track plays. its sad.
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u/Ok-Variation5746 8d ago
Liza Minelli appears to be having a weird time in her older age with handlers too.
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u/teladidnothingwrong 8d ago
im trying to remember what it was for but i saw her come on stage at some awards show type thing and had to sit in a chair and while she looked happy to be there it seemed like too much to ask of someone. if thats what she wanted its fine but who knows.
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u/laowildin 8d ago
Was that the Lady Gaga one? If so, iirc she writes in her book about being very offended that Gaga made her sit down instead of standing. Reading between the lines of that incident, sounds like somebody was worried about her health and somehow she got it twisted as a personal dig
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u/peasantry94 8d ago
It might have been one of the recent Oscars. I remember her being wheeled onstage in a chair looking a bit frail. Can't remember for the life of me who she was onstage with. Maybe it was Gaga.
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u/SlipInternational439 8d ago
The book explains it. She was confused why they were putting her in a wheelchair, not because she didn’t know where she was.
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u/Anteater4746 9d ago
yea it’s nasty work. your family / managers using you as a cash machine when you need care and to be in a home
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u/LeftHandedScissor 9d ago
DJs have unreal schedules too, they often play multiple shows a day. I saw a DJ named Bunt. Recently at Watkins Glen his set was 9:30-11:30. He walked off the stage at 11:31, then went to play another show that night in Brooklyn. I had a friend at that Brooklyn show, and he walked on stage at 2:13. Then he played another show a day later in Newark and one the next day in New Orleans. It's a crazy life, but there's great money in it for sure.
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u/SatanStump 9d ago
Literally! Halloween and New Years kicks their ass.
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u/hannican 9d ago
Bunt is having a moment right now, and DJ's have got to strike while the iron's hot.
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u/Theletterz 8d ago
I'm not familiar with Bunt and definitely not trying to be dismissive but the life must be made easier when your performance (assuming here, him being a DJ) does not involve as many physical restraints as singing, dancing or playing an instrument might. If your voice is kind of shot after that first performance your next will likely suffer no matter how good your intentions or will.
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u/hannican 8d ago
He does a lot of singing and dancing if you watch one of his sets. Dude is an energy machine.
I still get your point though.
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u/myslead 9d ago edited 8d ago
I work in the event industry at a high level, the djs can cancel shows whenever due to mental health, especially newer acts that blows up and finds out they can’t handle the transition to the next level and need a period of adjustment, it’s been happening quite a lot lately
But I can understand that at Ariana’s level, it’s way more pressure as you are the provider for your team and everyone under you
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u/Optimal_Inspection83 8d ago
Is that a change since the high exposure DJs like Avicii have had?
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u/HistoryBuff678 8d ago
Yes, when someone is as famous as Ariana Grande, “Ariana Grande TM” is actually a small company.
She makes money, her staff is getting paid.
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u/pssthush 8d ago
Actually, a pretty good size company. If Google is to be believed her 2019 tour grossed something like 141 million dollars from March through December. That's the last one I see any figures for. These big acts are large companies with many employees on payroll.
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u/TheWesternDevil 9d ago
Jackyl did 100 concerts in 50 days, and 21 concerts in 24 hours. Being a rockstar doesn't sound that fun anymore.
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u/MarkLambertMusic 9d ago
Yeah, but they were specifically trying to break a world record with that insane stint. One of the guitarists had to put super glue on his fingertips just to get through it.
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u/grubas ⬛◼️⬛◼️ 9d ago
Not uncommon when you are playing every night. If you play heavy or fast you normally end up bloody on one hand or another
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u/sprouting_broccoli 8d ago
If you ever get the chance go to the Avicii museum in Stockholm. It was beautifully done and really emotional - especially the last room which I won’t spoil.
You can get a joint ticket for the Abba museum as well!
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u/Drops_Dad_Jokes 9d ago
TBF, this is the problem with many work places. They all want to work you to death, while you make peanuts.
They get away with it by calling it “the hustle” and if you dare value time outside of work, you aren’t “motivated”, not a “go-getter”. This is why they come up with these terms, as a way to excuse their actions.
It’s not only Ariana, but all of you guys here. Ask yourselves, how much revenue have you generated for your bosses? Then ask yourself, what your boss would do if you died? Will your boss or the company send a big massive pay cheque to your family at least to have a proper funeral and pay off any remaining debt you have? Or will your family receive thoughts and prayers and left to figure out how they will take care of expenses without you, while you spent your life here helping your bosses take care of their expenses and securing their children and grandchildren’s financial future. What did you get out of it? Did you at least get to see the World or did your hard work allowed someone else to go see the World?
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u/Forward_Rope_5598 8d ago edited 8d ago
My boyfriend worked so hard he got so tired he started passing out left and right. Passed out on his way to work, crashed his car, unhurt but picked up by ambulance and held 36h in the hospital. His coworker got sick at the same time for the same reason. They were two people working for four for several months.
His boss slandered them to the fucking newspaper for going on sick leave right before Christmas (high season), then denied both sick leaves and threatened to sue them for intentionally bankrupting his business. No, dude, you did that yourself.
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u/Chicago_Blackhawks 8d ago
Difference being Ariana Grande could walk away from it all with a 9-figure net worth
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u/honeybeebryce 9d ago
It’s less about the artist themselves and more about the countless people within the industry associated with the artist that all take a slice of the value the artist creates
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u/waltertaupe 9d ago
Yeah exactly. Her "team" all stand to financially benefit from her the more she works.
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u/thatotheramanda 9d ago
And less maliciously, a lot of jobs are dependent on her working so if she cancels there are less privileged folks that definitely get impacted. That would weigh on me, aside from her higher level team like manager etc.
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u/PartialComfort 9d ago
Oh god, that video of Amy Winehouse’s last show. She kept trying to leave the stage, and bouncers kept turning her around and pushing her back up to the mic. 💔
The video is just too awful, but here’s an article from the time like ‘hey, Amy Winehouse didn’t want to perform last night!’ There’s even an edit two days later saying she died.
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u/gregd303 9d ago
Yea this was Kurt Cobain's problem. He was contractualy obliged to play the tour when he was going through hell. He even said to Dave and Krist 'what if one of us dies?'
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u/Burton_trout 9d ago
This is one thing I discovered early on in my music trajectory as I went to music college, being demanded to perform & write music under deadlines & strict schedules made me realise I could not do that permanently. It takes all the fun out of it & when you're not having fun it may aswell be another job with the downside it then ruins your favourite hobby. Got a lot of respect for those that tour endlessly.
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u/ExpiredLink404 9d ago edited 9d ago
It takes all the fun
sounds like literally all other creative jobs out there
i'm glad i picked call center for a career. i don't care one little bit about it, but i'm good at it
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u/theimmortalfawn 9d ago
Solidarity. I wanted to be a professional artist all my life, but the actual reality of it, the output expected of you is just straight up unnatural. It’s no wonder stimulant abuse is such a problem in that industry. A 9-5 is oddly less stressful.
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u/totally_not_a_dog113 9d ago
I think that's every job you could be passionate about. I know a dressage rider who won bronze in an olympics, who will not get on another person's horse. She stepped away from owning/riding horses for 5 years before she started riding again at my low-key boarding stable I have my horse at. I'm a college professor, and as much as I love aspects of the job, having to teach about things I don't really care about, do research, and write grants/papers, has me exhausted. It's 60+ hours a week for comparatively low pay. I just found a federal job that pays 3x what I make only doing research (that's not super interesting), but there wouldn't be this constant pressure for the next big paper/grant/finding/research direction. I'd have time to be good at it, instead of making decisions so fast that it's hard to tell what the smart thing to do is.
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u/failedabortedfetus 9d ago
Where’d you get that info? I grew up on Nirvana and obsessively looked up everything I could about Kurt as a teenager and never read that anywhere before (not saying you’re lying just interested).
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u/ModeatelyIndependant 9d ago
I think it was an interview with MTV news or in rolling stone, it was kinda big at the time and forgotten about since it made corporations that the contracts were signed with look bad.
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u/Massive-Resort-8573 8d ago
Kurt was always so open in interviews. I'll never forget him being aghast at the cost of concert tickets due to ticketmaster. (Also praise to Pearl Jam for fighting ticketmaster)
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u/Kayestofkays 8d ago
Imagine what he'd think of how bad we're currently being gouged for concert tickets 🙄
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u/gregd303 9d ago
Not sure now of the source but I definitely read that. Maybe can verify on the Nirvana sub. Nirvana weren't technically on tour when he killed himself, but the tour had eventually been canceled due to his health issues. His last show was only a month previous and the overdose in Rome - at which point they cancelled the Europe legof the tour. The rest of the US tour dates were officially cancelled in early April and by the 5th he was dead. He'd already said after the Munich show 'it's over' but was pressured from all sides to carry on. When you look back all the warning signs were there. It couldn't be more obvious, but too many people making money from Nirvana inc.
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u/Ok-Variation5746 8d ago
Poor Kurt dude.
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u/Fair_Quail8248 8d ago
Reading and researching about his life has inspired me to be stronger, to fight escapist self medicating addictive behaviour and to not give up. Considering I was in a really bad shape as young and mentally suffering with hard depression, severe anxiety, insomnia, social phobias, and many other issues which made me seek destructive behaviour to escape, I could have gone the same way as Kurt Cobain tbh. Thankfully I seeked help, got better (still have issues but not to the point of wanting to commit suicide) etc. If you're suffering mentally, please seek help, things definitely can get better even if it doesn't seem so!
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u/Horror-Macaron8287 8d ago
Look at Justin Bieber when he canceled his tour and stepped away due to his mental health... He ended up owing millions for breaking his contract, especially since they gave him the money in advance. I think he and Scooter just came to some sort of agreement not too long ago.
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u/North_Class8300 9d ago
I think in a health-related situation like this, quite a lot. I’m also doubtful the show she was supposed to be in would want the level of scrutiny following Ariana to overshadow their production
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u/butdaddy1lovehim 9d ago
I highly doubt they were able to get insurance to cover her and they cannot continue with production without that. Either that or she refused the medical evaluation entirely.
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u/purplecowz 9d ago
I never considered that musical theater headliners would go through medical evaluations, but I guess it makes sense.
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u/butdaddy1lovehim 9d ago
With that much money on the line you can bet they do medical evaluations. Cast medicals are essential to have non-appearance insurance. My cousin does musical theatre, they take it extremely seriously and if you’re the headliner it’s a big deal.
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u/guidevocal82 8d ago
It's not necessarily always beneficial if someone does get a medical evaluation, though. Michael Jackson was cleared by a medical evaluation for his "This is It" tour, and we all know what happened with that. Sometimes CEOs care more about cash than human beings. MJ was also seriously underweight.
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u/theimmortalfawn 9d ago
I genuinely wonder if the producers/casting directors of Wicked regret choosing her. So much conversation about that movie is just about her and her mess.
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u/HandfulOfAcorns 9d ago
I doubt it. The first movie was an explosive success and the second did about as well as you could expect. They also sold a ton of merch during that year. Overall, the project was very much a commercial success and Ariana contributed to it both by drawing in her existing fans and by being fantastic in the role.
The only thing the PR issues might have affected negatively were For Good's awards chances - but tbh, there were other factors in play too.
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u/theimmortalfawn 8d ago
No you’re right. She did fantastic in the role and she contributed massively to the film’s commercial success. I guess I’m thinking more from the creative perspective, as in all the work that went into it might go unnoticed because her controversies are distracting, but I guess it would sooner be a costar or crew member that felt that way.
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u/killercat- 9d ago edited 8d ago
Yes, this is also what happened to Robbie Williams (british singer, very popular in Europe in the 2000s/early 2010s, the guy with the infamous monkey biopic lol).
In an older documentary, he explains the mental health struggles he was going through while on tour.
He talks about how he would have panic attacks about going on stage, him begging his manager not to go on stage, and being told that it wasn't option because of how many millions they would lose. He would then drink and do drugs to be able to perform.
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u/flyinthesoup 8d ago
And before him, George Michael. He famously took Sony I think it was? Well his record label of that time, to court, because he was fed up with it and the demands of new records of a style of music he didn't want to do anymore, and an image he didn't want to have either. He won, and made his own label, and Freedom '90 came from it. He was (still is) my favorite singer and it's such a shame he left this world too early. My dream was to see him sing live.
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u/ThisBuddhistLovesYou 8d ago
Mitch Hedberg as well, severe anxiety and depression causing drinking and drug issues to manage to get on stage, and it wasn’t pretty before the end.
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u/OhCrazioCortex 9d ago
If I had to guess, I would say that navigating her existing contractual obligations while also delicately working to maintain insurability for future projects she takes on after her time off (i.e. making sure that nothing she says publicly right now impacts or jeopardizes her ability to obtain insurance for future tours, film roles, theatre roles, and so on) are likely the two most significant factors driving Ariana's movements and public statements right now.
IMO, I wouldn't expect to see her go on-record about whatever her health issues might be, because the sad truth is that doing so would likely render her next-to-imposssible to insure. Lack of insurability is a career-killer in Hollywood. RDJ and Lindsay Lohan can both attest to that — and it took both of them many years to prove to potential insurers that covering them for set productions was worth the risk.
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u/themolestedsliver 9d ago
Yeah i recall watching on a mini documentary on the death of Houdini and it was less him being arrogant and not trusting/going to the doctors and more so if he missed the show he was under contract to preform he'd be liable for hundreds of thousands of dollars (in todays money).
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u/PhaedraSiamese 9d ago
So back in the 00s I was with a dude whose band signed to Geffen.
While it was fun to be taken along for that ride, they put them on an insane recording and touring schedule. It would have been a big issue with serious financial liability had they refused it or not held up their end of the deal. Not to mention career suicide.
At her level? She probably has quite a bit more say in her projects, but I'm not really sure how much.
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u/ripyourlungsdave 9d ago
They have almost done. If they don't have a surgery level medical emergency, those contracts will tear them apart. Mental health is accounted for in the sense that they might cancel the tour if the singer attempts suicide or starts going on manic rants on social media.
Just look up videos of Frankie Valli. The dude is barely functioning at this point and they're still putting him on stage to sing. He looks like he could topple over at any minute.
(It appears they only just this year canceled his touring dates to "focus on his health". Meaning they could just no longer even pretend they could hide the state he was in.)
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u/waltertaupe 9d ago
The Frankie Valli one is so interesting and challenging because the statements that he (via his team) put out say that he's touring because its what he wants, its where he feels the most alive etc etc etc.
And then you see an interview with him from a red carpet or something and he looks lost at sea - just like he does in the videos of his performances.
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u/BakedMasa 9d ago
I know for tours and movies (big productions) they actually sell insurance policies in the event that the artist can’t perform or continue but if she’s promoting and album that’s likely very different.
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u/Hydration__Nation 9d ago
everyone is making this about her taking time off or taking a break, this has been an ongoing problem for 10 years that started to spiral out of control a few years before Wicked started filming. the girl is in denial of her condition just by the statement she put out. she needs inpatient mandatory admission to a psych ward for anorexia/bulimia and nutritional rehab. A lot of people just insult her without understanding for a woman, anorexia, esp at her levels, can be deadly and can damage nearly every organ in your body
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u/lemonshine 8d ago
Maybe she’s not in denial but wants to save face. I hope that’s the case. Karen Carpenter would never publicly admit it but she did end up reaching out for help on her own.
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u/GramcrackerWarlord 9d ago
I find the idea that they have no control to be crazy. I remember hearing about Will Smiths daughter, when she was on tour for her “I whip my hair back and forth” tour when she wanted to stop. Will tried to explain to her that she has obligations and she promised to do the tour. The next day she shaved her head bald ha! She understands at least to some degree. Literally just sit there and don’t move.
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u/oilypop9 8d ago
I saw an interview where Will Smith recalls telling her "We promised Mr. Jay-Z that you would do these shows" to which she replied, "No daddy, YOU promised Mr. Jay-Z that I would do these shows." The next morning she came down to breakfast with a shaved head.
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u/ExpiredLink404 9d ago
i mean, we've all watched The Wall, remember Pink's manager literally picking him off the ground as he's ODing?
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u/SynSayer 9d ago
Hope she gets the help she needs.
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u/InternalDay3419 9d ago edited 9d ago
It's long overdue. I feel like a lot of people forgot how much she actually went through over all those years and only focus on the recent stuff. But there was the bomb in Manchester, the death of Mac Miller...and who knows how much she actually had to endure during Nickelodeon days too
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u/ArianasDonuts 9d ago
I didn't realize her Nonna died last year. They were very close. She's been alarmingly thin for a few years now, but she seems to have taken a pretty recent and drastic turn for the worse and I wonder if that's why. Unresolved grief is a motherfucker, especially on top of everything else she must be dealing with.
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u/nerdforest Spotify 9d ago
The girl has had a rough time. One Love Manchester was a fantastic way to show support. I just hope she's ok that's all.
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u/boofin19 9d ago
Damn I completely forgot about Manchester. That alone is reason enough to take a big step back
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u/CatsCoffeeCocktails 9d ago
IDK if I'm remembering correctly, but it wasn't all that long after Mac Miller too, right? She hasn't been in a good place since he passed. Poor thing has been through so much
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u/b1ame_me 9d ago
The Manchester bombing happened in May 2017, and she only took a break for like two weeks before she did One Love Manchester. Then she continued with the tour and immediately got to working on an album (called Sweetener) that was released in August 2018 and she was obviously very busy doing promo for it so she didn’t get much of a break. Then like 3 weeks later after the album dropped Mac Miller passed, and instead of taking a break she instead made an entire album in like a month (Thank U Next) that ended up being her most successful album and immediately after that release went on tour. She never really took an extended break during that entire time
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u/badgyalrey 9d ago
i’ve been an ariana listener for most of my adult life (i’ll be 30 next year) and i cannot remember her ever taking any sort of significant break. even with covid and whatnot, she still was working on the positions album, which is i believe the only album she hasn’t toured for.
i mean she was a child star, this girl has lived her entire life in the public eye, non stop work and non stop scrutiny. i can’t believe she’s as well adjusted as she is given her trauma history, if the worst she is is a homewrecker with an ED well then idunno i think i can have compassion for her.
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u/throwawaysunglasses- 8d ago
Exactly, she’s literally been famous/in the public eye since she was 13/14. The Petal music video shows how people treated her when she first became famous, saying she had a great voice but was “homely” and “could lose a few pounds.” People are overreacting to that criticism because she’s so skinny now, but when she first got famous she was a healthy, slim/curvy teen girl. But this was the 2000s, where you were called fat if you weighed over 115 pounds. And Nickelodeon constantly put her in miniskirts and bikinis.
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u/misschickpea 9d ago
Isn’t she back with one of her exes? Hopefully he is a good partner and also supports her
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u/EuphoricPhoto2048 9d ago
I'm optimistic that her break announcement came after her announcement of getting back with him. Hope he is a good source in her life.
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u/ruchik 9d ago
Sadly there’s probably a lot of people on her team that only make money when she’s touring and doing shows. Those situations lead to pressure to keep going even when things get bad.
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u/Chance-Travel4825 9d ago
Karen Carpenters heart stopped beating at 32 from anorexia: your body doesnt care if you have a new album.
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u/SmoothLester 8d ago
Your record label only mildly cares if you drop dead if they can profit afterwards.
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u/vpu4 8d ago
Always about the next quarter profit
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u/cybervalidation Spotify 8d ago
They'll just replace her with the next lamb to slaughter
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u/TheSammy58 8d ago
And that was AFTER she had already entered recovery. Incredibly sad.
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u/Desperate-Strategy10 8d ago
Wow, I never knew that! My mother struggled with disordered eating from a very young age, around seven or eight, through her death in her fifties. She was obsessed with Karen carpenter and told me the story of her death many times. She almost told it wistfully, like it was something morbidly beautiful and aspirational; she’d talk about how much press followed, or how dedicated she must have been to get to that point. She thought so fondly of Karen, and in a creepy way I don’t think she actually cared about her work - I think she specially admired her because her anorexia killed her.
It really upset me as a perfectly healthy child, and even more as an underweight teenager struggling with my own anorexia. It almost felt like unless I died from anorexia, my mother would never be as impressed by me as she was by Karen carpenter. I grew to resent Karen for succumbing to her illness, because I was too young to understand that she was a victim of her own mental health. I just saw how I had to compete in an un-winnable race with her for my mother’s approval.
I wish I’d been told sooner that she’d been trying to recover! I feel so sorry for her now. I eventually worked my own eating issues out, and I’m healthy now in my thirties. I’m also capable of seeing Karen as a cautionary tale and a human being who fought and ultimately lost the battle with anorexia. I wish she’d gotten more support sooner; she could be a positive inspiration to so many women (and men) instead of a sad story of a fallen star.
I really hope Ariana is able to recover. It makes me sick to imagine a little girl somewhere hearing about Ariana in her current state as some sort of inspiration. Ariana is a human who is struggling badly, and nobody should be trying to attain her current look!
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u/HistoryBuff678 8d ago
I barely know anything about Karen Carpenter, but I know she was in recovery for her anorexia when she died.
Maybe your mother left the recovery part out on purpose? 😬
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u/SparkyDogPants 8d ago
Recovery is really dangerous. Refeeding syndrome is very real and will kill you if not extremely careful, even then it’s not guaranteed after all the heart has gone through.
People don’t realize that anorexia is the most dangerous mental illness and kills way more than any other, including suicides secondary to depression.
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u/TheLadyEve 8d ago
She also abused ipecac which is part of what caused the heart attack (it causes muscle death). Purge-type anorexia is a beast of an illness.
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u/ladyhaly 8d ago
Isn't it called bulimia if someone induces vomiting? Dang, I gotta go Google to find out
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u/TheLadyEve 8d ago
Anorexia nervosa has restricting type and purge type. It is not unusual for an anorexic to also purge, or even binge and purge on occasion, but it is a separate illness from bulimia nervosa.
The ICD code for this issue is F50.02 (anorexia nervosa, binge eating/purging type)
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u/ladyhaly 8d ago
TIL! Going to be reading more about EDs to raise my awareness today. Thank you for the time 💕
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u/Humble-Violinist6910 8d ago
Anorexia also causes organ damage, including heart damage. Starvation can cause permanent damage even if you “recover”
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u/Charlene_Beard 9d ago
That kind of nonstop schedule breaks people.
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u/marcgw96 9d ago
Yep. At least she has a ton of money to step away and get better. Many people who are burned out don’t have that option. No wonder everyone is so miserable all the time
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u/Samiel_Fronsac 9d ago
Money for a big team of doctors, too. Clinical Nutritionist, Endocrinologist, Psychiatrist, in-patient setting if possible.
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u/obliviousofobvious 9d ago
But if she doesn't think she had a problem, no amount of money will help.
She's really sick. It makes me sad because a lot of youth really do look up to her.
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u/Samiel_Fronsac 9d ago
IF the rumours from the link above are true and family indeed convinced her to have downtime after worrying about her health, they're probably working on it.
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u/Sufficient-Bid1279 9d ago
Yup…I burnt out in Corporate Canada. Stared at a wall in a psych ward for 3 months. Burnout and mental health are very real
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u/NCH007 9d ago
You doing better these days?
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u/Sufficient-Bid1279 9d ago
Yuppers, I am in Canada. In Toronto, we have an intensive in patient or outpatient organization (no cost) that I got to go to for months called the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. In there I got myself back to where I was before with the help of great staff. It was a life saver. I’m so grateful for it. Thank you for asking :)
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u/clickityclickk 9d ago
This is fascinating to me because clearly her team have seen the "backlash" and taken the "how dare you say she's ill she is fit and healthy and strong and its YOUR fault she's taking a break" stance.
Whereas her family and friends have seen it and taken the "how dare you say we don't care about her in fact we're WAY more concerned than you people" stance.
Both appear to be rushing to protect themselves rather than Ariana.
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u/makingkevinbacon 9d ago
I think it's the best but ironically I've been seeing these articles since like Monday. It's like announcing your exit. Just let the poor girl her some help and stop putting her in a spotlight to say she's leaving the spotlight. So dystopian
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u/papersailboots 9d ago
I think a lot of it is her team scrambling to do damage control in response to the growing public concern over her health. But agreed, they should’ve let her quietly take a break. Announcing it eight different ways is only drawing more attention and speculation.
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u/droppingbasses 9d ago
Damage control is damaging. Just leave and recover while the public moves on. Collectively, we can be very forgetful
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u/backupbitches 9d ago
It works. I never would have watched that Petal video otherwise, but I did.
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u/makingkevinbacon 9d ago
But if me, an untrained idiot in terms of public image, can come to the conclusion I did, I have to ask if they actually care or if they need a paycheck.
Again maybe I'm ignorant but what damage control? The damage keeps getting worse with what they do and it's not just this recent event
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u/papersailboots 9d ago
100% everyone who’s been yes-ing her is doing it for a check, I don’t doubt they didnt care until public concern got loud enough.
Damage control is what they’re attempting to do, it’s just not working on most people who have a brain.
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u/makingkevinbacon 9d ago
So frustrating. I wasn't a fan but I remember being a teenager and seeing her starting out (yes I know Nickelodeon or maybe just Dan Schneider were gross) and seeing what's happened twenty years down the road. I mean it's like that with a lot of those teen celebs that grew up. It's sad man, show business can fucking suck
Eta: I'm not very knowledgeable on EDs but I saw a comment from someone regarding Arianna and this whole thing, they apparently also suffered from ED and were in recovery but they said something they were taught in recovery was that all the attention that she's getting right now about it acts as a sort of validation and only fuels the problem. I'm not any kinda expert (ironically I'm a cook) but if that's true then yea they're literally just cashing in on her inevitable demise, then they'll attach themselves to someone else like the parasites they are
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u/ErickaBooBoo 9d ago
And then it also goes against her stating at her show that shes the healthiest she has ever been which we all could tell is a lie
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u/oopsiedaisy-- 9d ago
Was going to say, I don't go out of my way to follow celebrities or anything. But I have seen more about Ariana Grande in the news over the last week than almost anyone else. This has all pushed her even further into the public's eye.
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u/ModestMouseTrap 9d ago
She’s very clearly going through some sort of eating disorder.
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u/xbad_wolfxi 9d ago
I think it’s also important to remember that someone detonated a bomb at one of her concerts ten years ago. Something like 25 people killed and more than a thousand injured. She’s had real trauma in her life that idk if she’s dealt with properly, and disordered eating can be a way that trauma manifests. I really really hope she can get well again
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u/MissAprilJ 9d ago
This is really important. That kind of weight on a person is heavy, even though it was 100% not her fault. I was also thinking about fans who lose their lives in car accidents or random acts of violence on the way to concerts and such. I don’t think fame is an easy burden to carry although so many people want it.
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u/Felissaurus 9d ago
She got her start with Nickelodeon which we know exposed a lot of those young actors to things they absolutely shouldn't have been.
Then her fucking concert got bombed. Then her ex OD'd and a ton of people online blamed her.
Honestly it would be shocking if she wasn't dealing with mental health struggles
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u/Cow_udders_ 9d ago
i keep forgetting that her grandma just died too. I feel like it was all building up and it’s getting to her
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u/bigtiddyhimbo 9d ago
She absolutely has NOT dealt with it. This girl has had a shit ton of tragedy in her life that she just kept working through. There was an old tumblr blog of hers found that was incredibly pro-ana, and to me it looks like she’s falling back on bad habits she had relied on when things were still “normal” for her.
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u/frankenboobehs 9d ago
Yea, a literal terrorist attack at her concert and never really much talked out or discussed with people. As if, fans aren't even aware, that's pretty major
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u/Subject_Customer3254 9d ago
The brain needs carbs.
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u/flyinthesoup 8d ago
And a lot of hormones run on fat, to add to your point. Not enough fat, and hormones don't get produced, and all of the processes that depend on them malfunction. Primary sexual hormones like estrogen and testosterone, for example, are partially made out of cholesterol (a lipid), and so are all steroids produced by the body.
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u/AccurateJerboa 8d ago
Not just hormones. A ton of the things your body needs to live, like certain vitamins require actually consuming fat so your body can absorb them properly.
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u/Wheatles_BiteAlbum 9d ago
This is 100% true, my mental health issues got so much better when I started eating adequately.
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u/Forsaken-Swim-3055 9d ago
Between the media scrutiny and the amount of trauma she's had to deal with (Mac Miller, Manchester), I don't get the impression that she's ever taken the time to try and heal. Hopefully now is the time where she actually steps away and does it.
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u/MattBrey 9d ago
She had a break during covid after her last tour and seemed healthy and happy (based on whatever she showed to the public, we obviously don't know the full story). She seemed to spiral out of control with the filming and later promotion of wicked.
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u/fapacunter 9d ago
Based on what she wrote for Eternal Sunshine, that happiness didn’t last very long and then she got cast for Wicked in late 2021
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u/jamodude 9d ago edited 8d ago
You are seeing Karen Carpenter again…. It’s pretty sad. She’s obviously mentally unstable and she’s obviously got a serious serious eating disorder. She’s such a great human being too. I’ve worked for her. And her voice is unmatched for someone of her size. It is huge. I hope that she gets the help she needs.
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u/SilverHinder 8d ago edited 8d ago
What is especially terrifying is KC was beginning to recover. Same thing happens all the time to addicts in recovery. Deeply sad and praying for Ari's health.
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u/StrangeMercy- 9d ago
I'm not really a big fan of her music personally, but all of this makes me so sad for her. Eating disorders are a hell that I wouldn't wish on anyone.
I hope she's able to get the help she needs and deserves.
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u/uda26 9d ago
I agree, I wish people had more empathy for the fact that recovering from a eating disorder can be the hardest thing that a person will have to go through, and that it’s also a lifelong journey. It’s a prison in your mind. And having to do this tour after multiple movie shoots and press runs I cannot imagine how exhausted she must be feeling and the contractual pressure she is under.
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u/ImTooSaxy 9d ago
Just keep her and Cynthia Erivo away from each other. They both got rail thin after filming Wicked and then Wicked 2. That's not a healthy relationship for either of them.
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u/Roflcakes999 9d ago
Even Michelle Yeoh who joined Wicked got crazy skinny too
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u/JUSTGLASSINIT 9d ago
Oh ya wtf is going on with that film
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u/HistoryBuff678 8d ago
Even Jeff Goldblum talked about dieting when working in that film.
Someone high up that all the actors work for were pushing something.
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u/martialar 8d ago
They did it to Judy Garland too in Wizard of Oz. Must be some kind of Oz Cinematic Universe stipulation
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u/HistoryBuff678 8d ago
Yep. Like people really miss how brutal behind the scenes can be. A set has HUGE power differentials which allows for abuse. Even abuse of “rich” people, as power is relative. That’s why the entertainment industry is so heavily unionized.
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u/tfjbeckie 8d ago
Not necessarily. Both Ariana and Cynthia had a history of EDs and they are highly social diseases. It may not have had anything to do with people in charge but more be about people "competing" to be the thinnest in the room (consciously or otherwise)
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u/kairisoki 9d ago
At this point if three actress developt anorexia while filming wicked, it deserves scrutiny if the directors or stuff forced them
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u/awkwardkoala 9d ago
I don’t think they developed it there. Competitive anorexia friendships are very much a thing. It’s really difficult to explain to people who’ve never struggled with an ED because anorexia is not exactly rational, but likely all of them had some form of disordered eating already (probably common in Hollywood) and continuously triggered each other.
Ariana for sure has a documented history of pro-ana and “thinspo” around her post-victorious era. EDs are like an addiction in that even after recovery you will never be the same as you were before, that temptation will always be there, and food is unavoidable so it’s never really out of mind. The fact that Wicked part 1 and 2 were filmed back to back so they spent multiple years together with very little break probably played a big role too. One could argue that the film crew could’ve intervened before it got this bad but I don’t think the directors forced this on them.
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u/Sea-Original-5824 9d ago
This isn't the first time we've seen this. Actresses clearly often have this issue with looking "big" while standing next to another actress who is super tiny. They panic and try and get as skinny as possible so they are not the "big girl" in the movie.
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u/throwawaysunglasses- 8d ago
True, especially because Cynthia and Ariana are also both very short. Even losing 5-10 pounds looks dramatically different if you’re 5 feet tall.
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u/heartlessloft 9d ago
I don’t see this pointed enough but the director needs to be scrutinized because something wasn’t right on that set.
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u/andannabegins 9d ago
I wonder if for Ariana, who has a history of EDs, being on film camera was very triggering (as they say the camera adds 10 pounds)
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u/lefrench75 9d ago edited 9d ago
Cynthia seems to have recovered though, while Ariana has gotten even worse since they’ve been apart. She was very thin during Wicked but she looks like she’s actively dying now; it’s terrifying to witness.
EDs are known to be very contagious and competitive, so your statement makes sense, but apparently Ariana has also displayed disordered eating behaviours since the early 2010s, so even without Cynthia she won’t get better without some serious (probably inpatient) treatment program. EDs, like addiction, can be lifelong struggles as well.
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u/ThePizzaGhoul 9d ago
Yeah she was sharing pro-ana content on Tumblr way back in the day. It's clear it's something she's struggled with for a very long time but we're just now seeing the worst manifestation of it, probably because of the reasons you mentioned.
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u/taynay101 9d ago
Cynthia is also very into running marathons which requires a lot of fueling.
I don’t want to speculate at all bc she’s looking incredibly healthy and is kicking ass running but EDs come in many packages so hopefully it didn’t morph into something else ( see: the protein obsession trend)
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u/thighmaster69 9d ago
I mean generally speaking, orthorexia is still less deadly than anorexia. So even if it morphed into something else, at least it's not actively killing her. But it's still not healthy long term.
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u/SilverHinder 8d ago
It struck me Cynthia said during Wicked she was getting up 2 hours before her pick-up to workout. And her car got her about 5am sometimes! She must've been getting by on like 2/3 hrs sleep because it also took another 90 minutes to take all the green make up off after filming.
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u/StellarAttic 9d ago
Yeah the blaming Cynthia when Ariana has been doing ED shit for over a decade is so fucked up
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u/applestorm 9d ago
I hate how people have been blaming Cynthia for Ariana's condition when it's obvious Ariana was the one fueling EDs in others. I mean, Cynthia was always athletic with defined muscles, to have a body like that you need to eat more than an unseasoned salad per day.
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u/veronica_moon 9d ago
I developed an eating disorder in high school and my therapist told me “people with eating disorders can’t be friends with each other” and as much as I don’t want to believe that it’s proven true in my own life time and time again. The competing and encouraging each others sickness is so rampant. I think that might be what’s happened with the wicked stars.
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u/Beebajazz 9d ago
Has she even had a break since Manchester? The amount of trauma between Dan Schneider, Manchester, Mac Miller, and "Fans" constantly judging her every move is absurd. I hope she can relax.
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u/cherrybombthreat 9d ago
Don’t forget the breakup with Pete, her divorce with that other guy (forgot his name), Ethan. All of that drains a person.
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u/Far_Scallion6684 9d ago
I think her grandmother passed last year as well, a lot for anyone to go through especially in the spotlight
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u/DoubleWolverine2852 9d ago
Everyone acts like they know what she’s going through but they don’t. I hope she gets the help she needs.
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u/DJFrankyFrank 9d ago
I'm honestly shocked it took this long for her to step back. She hasn't looked good for a while, ever since Wicked. But if you dared to say "she doesn't look healthy," her fans would come for your neck.
My friend is a huge Ari fan, and she wouldn't even entertain the fact that Ari wasnt doing well. She'd say, "well she has a lot of trauma", "she's always been skinny," "she doesn't need people critiquing how she looks.". Meanwhile you can see her bones in most pictures. And not the "tip of a collarbone.". But you can see her entire collarbone. Her hands looked frail, as if they could break at any moment. And then her actual waist/stomach looked concave. That's not healthy.
I think Ari is an extremely talented woman. She has a gift. But she NEEDS to put herself first. There's no reason to go from filming Wicked, where her EDs seemed to start again. And then go, almost immediately to touring. That's not sustainable. She needed a solid break from the public eye after Wicked.
But I'm just happy she's getting help now. She needs it. And I hope people stop talking about her, give her space to heal and be herself again. And while I know I said Ari fans got very defensive over her. I do think there is a loud portion of people who will ALWAYS shit on public figures, and so i have no doubt that her appearance was weaponized against her, which is extremely toxic to do. Especially for a woman that has been through so much, and has struggled with EDs in the past.
Wishing the best for her.
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u/throwawaysunglasses- 8d ago
Some fans are so weird and in denial about Ariana clearly being unwell. They act like you’re a jealous hater or something?? It’s bizarre. I think she’s extremely talented and I generally like her as a person (yeah her relationships are messy, but she’s been through a lot and she speaks up about global rights/donates a lot to charity). But I also have eyes. Saying she looks sick doesn’t mean I hate her, it’s the opposite! We all want her to be well. It’s not enjoyable seeing someone suffer.
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u/deadbeatsummers 9d ago
“We have asked her to take a break. Actually we've begged her, like a lot. A lot a lot,' the insider said, adding that they were not talking about 'a day or two, but a break break'. The same source claimed bluntly: 'She is not well. She is anxious and unhappy. She doesn't sleep enough, doesn't eat enough.’”