Ariana Grande on Tuesday addressed concerns about her appearance and called for kindess.
The 29-year-old pop star was scrutinized and body-shamed on social media after she was stepped out in London last week. Reactions included "She’s too skinny!!! Give her some food!!" and "you can clearly see her bones ... It’s really concerning at this point."
In a video she shared on TikTok, Grande said people need to be “gentler and less comfortable commenting on people’s bodies, no matter what.”
She said: “If you think you’re saying something good or well-intentioned, whatever it is, healthy, unhealthy, big, small, this, that, sexy, not sexy… we should really work towards not doing that as much.”
Grande, who is currently working on the film adaptation of Wicked, continued: “There are ways to compliment someone or to ignore something that you see that you don’t like. I think we should help each other work towards just being safer and keeping each other safer.
“There are many different kinds of beautiful. There are many different ways to look healthy and beautiful.”
The singer said it is unfair to compare her current appearance to her previous one because it was “the unhealthiest version of my body.”
She shared: “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. And I know I shouldn’t have to explain that, but I do feel like maybe having an openness and some sort of vulnerability here, something good might come from it. That’s the first thing, healthy can look different.”
Grande also pointed out that no one knows what someone else is going through – and she urged kindness.
“Even if you are coming from a loving place and a caring place, that person probably is working on it or has a support system that they are working on it with.
“You never know, so be gentle with each other and with yourselves.”
Grande wrapped up the video message by putting into practice what she is preaching.
“You’re beautiful no matter what you’re going through, no matter what weight, no matter how you like to do your makeup these days, no matter what cosmetic procedures you’ve had or not or anything,” she said.
“I just think you’re beautiful and wanted to share some feelings.”
Watch the full video below:
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♬ original sound - arianagrande