Music

Ariana Grande has a lot she could say about the public scrutiny she faced in 2023 regarding rumors about her relationship with Wicked costar Ethan Slater — but for now, she’s letting the songs she wrote about the situation on Eternal Sunshine speak for themselves. For the most part.

During her Monday (Feb. 26) interview on The Zach Sang Show, the 30-year-old pop star touched a bit on her experiences with the press after gossip about her personal life reached a fever pitch last year. In short, just days after Grande’s split from estranged husband Dalton Gomez went public in July, reports that the “Positions” musician was dating Slater emerged.

Soon afterward, the SpongeBob SquarePants Broadway star’s estranged wife, Lilly Jay — with whom he shares a young son — told Page Six that Grande was “the story” behind her breakup from Slater, adding that the pop star is “not a girl’s girl.” And even though both TMZ and People reported from the jump that Slater and Grande’s romance began after both of their previous relationships were over, a narrative that the Grammy winner had acted as a so-called home-wrecker took on a life of its own.

But Grande has a different take. “We know this about the tabloids, and about the media — am I crazy? Don’t we know this?” questioned the star in the new interview. “We selectively remember that this is what the tabloids do to people, especially women, based upon if we like the person. We selectively leave space for humanness, for nuance.”

When asked whether there was anything she wishes people knew about her after the events of last year, she replied, “Plenty.”

“We don’t have enough time,” Grande continued. “We don’t need to go into any specifics, but of course there’s an insatiable frustration, an inexplicable hellish feeling with watching people misunderstand the people you love, and you.”

The Victorious alum also shared that her new album Eternal Sunshine, which arrives March 8, “says everything and nothing at the same time” about the situation. “It’s very vague and very specific, all at once,” she continued. “It was definitely the most emotional writing process, for sure.”

“When I was writing, it was with no intention for the world to hear it,” the singer added. “When I was done, I remembered that people will hear it, and how people can sometimes sensationalize things and assign meaning to certain things. I combed through just to make sure that it was what I intended. I had some sessions where I was definitely writing more emotionally and more reactively.”

Watch Ariana Grande on The Zach Sang Show below.

Ariana Grande isn’t switching positions on how she feels about music leaks. During the first episode of her multi-part interview on The Zach Sang Show Monday (Feb. 26), the 30-year-old pop star addressed the matter of her unreleased songs finding their way to social media without her permission last year — one of which, she hinted, found a much more kosher home on her upcoming Eternal Sunshine album.

“The few studio sessions I did, which are all over TikTok, thank you so much,” she began, sporting a head-to-toe red outfit — save for her black stilettos — and matching lipstick. “I’ll see you in jail, literally,” the singer added.

“Thieves! Pirates! Crooks!” she said, laughing but still serious. “Illegal. I’ll pay you more to put it away, like, to get it back.”

Grande went on to give context for her catchy ’90s-inspired track “Fantasize,” which was never supposed to see the light of day, but still found its way to TikTok virality last year. “That wasn’t my song, it wasn’t for me,” she explained, noting that she’d written it for an unnamed TV show. “It was like a parody of this girl group vibe.”

Even so, the “POV” singer took note of her fans’ love for “Fantasize” and decided to incorporate it into her new record, which arrives March 8. “I kind of gave them Ariana’s version of that on the album,” she said. “They’re completely different now. So although you’ve heard them — because you stole them — they’re very different now.”

The second part of Grande’s interview with Sang arrives the day of Eternal Sunshine‘s release, and will find the pair talking about each individual song on the 13-track album. So far, the only single she’s dropped ahead of the LP’s release is the Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “Yes, And?”

While opening up about having her music stolen, the Victorious alum also shared her thoughts on the similarly viral artificial intelligence recreations of her voice — and let’s just say, she might hate that even more than the leaks. “What are we doing? Why?” she said, seemingly at a loss for words.

“I hate it,” she added. “It’s terrifying.”

Watch Grande on The Zach Sang Show above.