Ariana Grande explained her decision to “step back” from the spotlight Monday evening, sharing her announced break from “visibility” was not “a reactive or impulsive” decision. Rather, she noted that it was something she had decided to do a while back.
“So basically, the announcement that was made yesterday was not a reactive or impulsive thing,” she told the crowd at Monday’s concert stop for the Eternal Sunshine tour in Chicago, Illinois. “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.”
She continued: “And I want you to know many things can be true at the same time. 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 f–k opposite. Honestly, this is not what that is.”
As Grande went on, she made it “very, very clear” that “multiple things can be true at the same time.”
“Yes, boundaries, they need to be set. Human beings can need a break sometimes,” she added. “And also, this can be and will continue to be the greatest experience of my professional and creative life.”
Grande assured her fans that “no matter what noises exist out there” nothing would “ever be able to distort [her] reality.”
“The rest of that s–t is not mine to carry, so I don’t carry it,” she said, seemingly referring to the ongoing commentary about her weight. “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.”
Grande’s statement came a day after her rep shared that the singer would be taking a “step back from visibility” after her Eternal Sunshine tour, as her public appearances have “led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny.”
“She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny,” the statement noted. “This tour has been a beautiful experience for her. She loves her fans and has loved every minute of this tour so much.”
The representative also confirmed that Grande has dropped out of her role in the West End’s revival production of “Sunday in the Park With George,” which she was supposed to co-headline alongside “Wicked” co-star Jonathan Bailey.
