Ariana Grande Explains Why She’s Quitting The Limelight

That means that after her final London date in her Eternal Sunshine Tour next month, Grande will step back from the limelight. She will also miss Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George, which the Sweetener singer was set to co-star in alongside Jonathan Bailey as part of a 2027 Barbican production.

Since that announcement, the Wicked actor has clarified that the move was planned.

During a tour performance in Chicago’s United Centre last night, the singer took a moment to explain her decision to her fans.

She said: “Sometimes when a story comes out that’s not directly from me, things can get a little blown out of proportion. So I just wanted to speak to my fans directly tonight because I love you so much. The announcement that was made yesterday was not a reactive or impulsive thing.

“It is something that I had decided to plan that I had quietly made a long time ago and it’s a decision that was made from a thoughtful and empowered place. And I want you to know many things can be true at the same time. I want to share this because I heard that my fans were worried that negativity was ruining things for me, but I just have to say that could not be more the fuck opposite.

“Honestly, this is not what that is. And I just want to be very, very clear: Multiple things can be true at the same time. Yes, boundaries, they need to be set. Human beings can need a break sometimes. And also, this can be and will continue to be the greatest experience of my professional and creative life.

“No matter what noises exist out there, nothing will ever be able to distort my reality or be more real to me or elaborate to me than this love that we share.

“The rest of that shit is not mine to carry, so I don’t carry it. I need to get out here and differentiate that from my truth for you all because I love you and this tour has been the most healing, beautiful, corrective, magnificent, special experience of my life.”

Ariana’s exit from the public eye came days after the release of her new album Petal, in which Ariana plays a performer who is told she’s “not good enough” and alternately informed she’s had too little or too much work done.

Since the album came out, many have criticised or expressed “concern” about Ariana’s physical appearance, despite the singer’s previous objections to similar critiques.

In 2024’s Yes, And? she sang, “Don’t comment on my body, do not reply”, for instance.

And in a 2023 TikTok, she said: “There are many different ways to look healthy and beautiful. I know personally, for me, the body that you’ve been comparing my current body to was the unhealthiest version of my body.

“I was on a lot of antidepressants and drinking on them and eating poorly, and at the lowest point of my life when I looked the way you consider my healthy. That, in fact, wasn’t my healthy…

“If you think you’re saying something good or well-intentioned, whatever it is, healthy, unhealthy, big, small, this, that, sexy, not sexy. We just shouldn’t. We should really work towards not doing that as much.”