Ariana Grande has had enough of body comments, but 'scrutiny' will linger

Grande has cancelled appearances including a starring role in a stage musical in London next year

Three years on, and the social media speculation about her body and her health has continued. After "endless, ongoing public scrutiny", the star's spokesperson released a statement saying she "will be taking a step back from visibility" at the end of her current tour.

"She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily," the statement stressed, "and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny."

Grande released the video for her new single Petal on Friday

It follows the release of her eighth studio album Petal and the graphic video for its title track on Friday.

The song refers to the pressures of fame, and the video shows Grande as a starlet who tries out for a group of talent scouts, dressing as a variety of different pop star personas. None are deemed good enough.

The men initially inform her that it "couldn't hurt" to lose some weight, among other things, before they tell the final persona that they miss "the way you used to be".

"I wrote [this album] from a place that I don't usually, which was like an unfiltered rage," she has said.

One fan wrote on X that she "has become so thin that people are genuinely concerned".

Grande is scheduled to continue the Eternal Sunshine Tour in Chicago this week before 10 dates at London's O2 arena, where the tour will finish on 1 September.

Her "step back" means she will no longer star in Stephen Sondheim's stage musical Sunday in the Park with George opposite her Wicked co-star Jonathan Bailey at London's Barbican in 2027.

Grande has lived for more than 15 years - half her life - in the spotlight.

"I've been doing this in front of the public and been a specimen in a petri dish since I was 16 or 17, so I have heard it all," Grande told an interviewer, external during the press tour for the first Wicked film in 2024.

"I've heard every version of it, of what's wrong with me. And then you fix it, and then it's wrong for different reasons. But that's everything from – even just the simplest thing – your appearance, you know?

Grande was nominated for an Oscar in 2025 for playing Glinda in Wicked

Grande began singing at the age of eight and made her name as a teenage actress in Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious and its spin-off, Sam & Cat.

Since releasing her debut single in 2011, she has scored 10 US number one hits and earned 20 Grammy Award nominations, winning three times.

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