Ariana Grande Slams Media’s Sexist Double Standard: “I’m Not Big Sean’s Ex”

Christina Lee | June 7, 2015 8:23 am
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Ariana Grande is tired of the media focusing on her dating life — and she wants journalists to take the hint. “They were like, talk to me about boys,” she says in the June 6 episode of her behind-the-scenes Honeymoon Diaries. “And I was like, no. And they were like, why?”

“And I was like, because I’m not Big Sean‘s ex. I’m not Niall [Horan]’s ‘possible new girl.’ I’m Ariana Grande — and if that’s not interesting enough, don’t talk to me.”

Grande admits that initially, she couldn’t believe what she was saying. She jokes that her publicist felt forced to quit his job. (He didn’t.) Later, though, she criticizes journalists for leaping to conclusions, specifically regarding her friendship with the One Direction band member: “Believe it or not, women can be friends with people with dicks and not hop on them.”

Once Grande’s comments made headlines, she posted an statement to Twitter that expanded on the sexist double standard that she faces in interviews, like the ones she discusses in Honeymoon Diaries.

“What I meant when I said what I said about not being Sean’s ex is that I am tired of living in a world where women are mostly referred to as a man’s past, present or future PROPERTY / POSSESSION,” she says. “I … do not. Belong. To anyone. But myself. And neither do you.”

Watch Ariana Grande’s Honeymoon Diaries episode up top (skip to 11:00 for her comments on the media), then see the Twitter statement below.

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