Last week, Ariana Grande released a new song, music video, and remix to that very song. While Ariana has been nothing but a busy bee, not only with her constant flow of releasing new music - but also with her names popping up over basically every pop culture or entertainment based outlets.
Therefore, it wasn't surprising to see her name all over the internet last week - but one headline caught my attention. "Ariana Grande accidentally tattooed "Japanese BBQ" on her hand.
Why is her hand so airbrushed?
This since deleted photo has not only the blunder of a tattoo, but over an almost doll-like hand. She has reacted to this, saying people have been making similar comments, but it is surely enough, her hand.
So how does "7 Rings" equal "BBQ grill?"
Well, separately those characters apparently do mean "7" and "ring," but combined they mean shichirin - a small charcoal grill that used to grill meat.
Acknowledging this, she somehow made it about the aesthetic
Her defense runs all over the place, claiming it "still looks tight" - because we're all lining up to get a "tight" tattoo spelling out barbecue grill - said no one ever. While she is praising the aesthetic nature of the Kranji writing style - fans have pointed out that this is disregarding the actual language - and culture by extension - by not attempting to rectify her mistake.
So she did....
And she somehow made it worse
Grande claims to foster a great appreciation for Japanese culture, and is attempting to learn the language under a tutor. However, her tutor instructed her to add a character above the original two characters, however, she added it below. Her tattoo now translates to "Japanese BBQ Finger."
While Ariana Grande didn't invent horrifically misspelled tattoos...
She still is acting unapologetic, questioning "what more do you want me to do?" She went on to say that she has since removed Japanese-based merchandise off her website, but no one (apparently) noticed. In this situation, a lot of fans think she could have handled the issue with more sensitivity. In fact, her music video is receiving backlash along the lines of appropriation, too.
Speaking of appropriation...
Grande claims that she got this tattoo out of love of the Japanese culture - and expressed that her desire to learn Japanese stems from the goal of wanting to live there one day. She tweeted "u kno how many people make this mistake and DON'T care just cause they like how it looks? bruh ... i care soooo much. what would you like me to do or say? forreal."
...if she cared surely she'd try to resolve the now-twice muddled tattoo?
Overall, fans aren't happy
And her defense hasn't provided enough sincerity in the eyes of her fans.
This isn't the first time she has been accused of something of this nature anyway - people have been saying that she over tans herself, claiming it's "natural" due to her Italian descent. Fans have even gone as far to call out how she's changed the way she speaks in addition to her appearance to try to achieve racial ambiguity.