On September 7th, Mac Miller (Malcolm McCormick) passed away at the young and tender age of 26, a year shy of joining the 27 Club. His cause of death, apparent drug overdose, is not unfamiliar or shocking anymore, which truthfully makes the situation all the more heartbreaking and saddening.
What makes the situation all the more upsetting is the fact that mere days after his death was announced, fans shifted their energy from grieving into channeling hatred and accusations towards Mac Miller's ex-girlfriend, Ariana Grande, with claims that she was the reason for his passing. Unwittingly fueling flame to the fire, Ariana remained silent on the matter, which wrongfully led fans to believe she had a hand in his death. Only recently had she stated that she is distraught over losing someone who was so important to her life and expressed extreme sorrow in how his addiction finally got the best of him.
Ariana and Mac had a long history together, at first the best of friends until their relationship morphed into an ill-fated but sweet couple. She was aware of his addiction and did everything she could in her power to help ease his turmoil and offer guidance and support whenever she could. Unfortunately, there is little one can do to help an addict and most times they will end up destroying you before they destroy themselves, no matter how much they love you.
To place the blame squarely on Ariana's shoulders is not only completely unfair, it's simply cruel—especially since Ariana was a figure who was so pivotal to Mac's prior sobriety. Your partner is not responsible for your actions, especially not an ex-partner, and cannot be blamed whenever you slip through the cracks.
This mentality is toxic for both the addict and their partner; for the addict, it misleads them to think that their partner must always keep watch over them and should be held to blame in darker times, and for the partner, it adds an enormous deal of unnecessary and undeserved stress and trauma.
What happened between Mac Miller and Ariana Grande is simple—a relationship that just didn't work out. What happened to Mac Miller is nothing short of a tragedy—a young man who didn't receive the help he needed and ended up passing before his time. No one is to blame for this.
No one.
