Akina L (Year 11)

As cascades of fresh celebrity slanders regularly flood social media, a shining spotlight has landed on a singular individual. Ariana Grande. From Disney channel sweetheart to pop princess, Grande has been a regular in the entertainment industry for over 15 years, showcasing her undeniable talent to millions of fans across the globe.  However, as of late it seems the ‘Dangerous Woman’ singer has been gracing tabloid covers for all the wrong reasons. Proclaimed to be a ‘Serial cheater’ and ‘homewrecker’, a torrent of outrage has exploded online concerning her relationship with Wicked co-star Ethan Slater.

A blossoming romance. Repetition of history. A newly broken home. Wildly different words evoke wildly different emotions. So why do they find shared significance in the twisted story surrounding Slater and Grande? Revealed in a flurry of tell-all testimonies and TikTok confessions, the public is enthralled with every aspect of the shocking story. To swiftly summarise, Ariana Grande was originally close friends with Ethan Slater – and his wife. Yet, it has recently been revealed Slater has filed for divorce from his high-school sweetheart, Lilly Jay, to pursue a relationship with Grande. Lilly has spoken out via social media, dubbing Ariana to be ‘Not a girl’s girl’ and the cause of her family’s ‘Collateral damage’. To say society hasn’t taken these allegations lightly would be trivialising the issue. A single glance at Twitter and you will be cascaded with an abundance of tweets denouncing Grande, criticising her for the role she played in the breakdown of Slater’s marriage. One claims that ‘She (Grande) broke up a happy family…being a homewrecker is not cute’.

These harmful tweets not only reek of misogyny but buy into the harmful ideology that ‘The other woman’ is the sole cause of a marriage’s breakdown, ridding the male partner of any responsibility. This is reflected throughout the media’s perception of the situation, with Ethan Slater boasting barely a footnote in this twisted narrative. The issue is not that people disapprove of her supposedly breaking up a marriage, it is that only Grande, not Ethan Slater, is getting cancelled for this. The media’s deeply rooted sexism is all too apparent when it comes to situations such as this. Furthermore, Ariana Grande’s accomplishments in both music and film are belittled, with news sites preferring to report on her relationships. Instead of discussing her upcoming lead role in a major production, her love life is being torn apart. This same formula is reflected in Taylor Swift. Any professional accomplishments she may wield are diminished in favour of discussing who she may or may not be dating. Critics sceptical of Grande’s musical success are grasping at strands to justify this, latching on to whispers of infidelity to validate their dislike. It is blatant that Grande has been put on a pedestal, expected to adhere to the expectation the public has of her. Celebrities commit morally dubious acts on a regular basis, but it seems that only women like Ariana (Young, talented, female) face the full extent of public cancellation. For example, Leonardo DiCaprio, a 48-year-old man, is infamous for dating women merely older than 18, yet it is regarded as no more than a humorous joke.

It is clear that Ariana Grande’s reputation has taken more than a slight hit due to the extent of these claims. Hopefully, society can clean up their act and see the full extent of the damage they are causing. The problem isn’t disapproving of someone breaking up a marriage but relying on misogynistic tactics to back up their claims.