Pop diva, Ariana Grande, made headlines last week as she was caught on surveillance video licking donuts and cursing America. TMZ broke the news with the video clip that would set in motion a chaotic string of events.
The video shows the 22 year-old singer and her friends licking multiple donuts at a Lake Elsinore, Calif. donut shop during the July 4th weekend. They took advantage of a moment when no employees were watching and decided to have some daring fun. Grande, who recently split from rapper Big Sean, is also shown kissing one of her backup dancers. Upon an employee returning with a new tray of fresh donuts, she quipped, “What the f*** is that? I hate Americans. I hate America.”
The video quickly gained lots of attention, which prompted the singer to issue an apology. Ariana responded to Buzzfeed’s inquiries with a lengthy message that addressed her behavior and words. She wrote:
"I am extremely proud to be an American and I’ve always made it clear that I love my country. What I said in a private moment with my friend, who was buying the donuts, was taken out of context and I am sorry for not using more discretion with my choice of words. As an advocate for healthy eating, food is very important to me and I sometimes get upset by how freely we as Americans eat and consume things without giving any thought to the consequences that it has on our health and society as a whole. The fact that the United States has the highest child obesity rate in the world frustrates me. We need to do more to educate ourselves and our children about the dangers of overeating and the poison that we put into our bodies. We need to demand more from our food industry. However I should have known better in how I expressed myself; and with my new responsibility to others as a public figure I will strive to be better. As for why I cannot be at the MLB show, I have had emergency oral surgery and due to recovery I cannot attend the show. I hope to make it up to all those fans soon. That being said let me once again apologize if I have offended anyone with my poor choice of words."
The response of fans and celebrities, alike, varied from huge support to utter disappointment. The hashtag “#weforgiveyouariana” trended on Twitter following her statement as thousands of people forgave the young singer for her actions. There was some backlash, notably coming from Rob Lowe. The star tweeted, “As my grandpa would say: ‘Yeah, sure. Pull the other leg, it plays jingle bells!’ #lame” followed by a link to her apology. Clearly he did not find her statement sincere enough to justify her actions.
Unsatisfied with the overall reaction of her fan base, Grande made a more formal video, apologizing for her mistakes. She noted that her original statement focused too much on her views of child obesity, and not enough on the actual incident. While she did not actually address her donut-licking, she did stress her pride in being American and how upset she was with herself. The video has sparked even more discussion over her actions as people sounding off on her sincerity.
In other news, the surveillance footage that started this whole fiasco, ended up launching an investigation into the actual shop, Woolfie’s Donuts. Local police called in health inspectors, who found the store’s regulations to be sub-par. They claimed that the incident would never have happened if the donuts had been inside the display counter. The shop’s rating dropped to a “B” with the warning that they only have a week to fix the issues before another inspection. No one could have ever predicted that this much chaos would stem from Ariana Grande’s tongue!
What are your thoughts on donut-gate? Sound off in the comments.
