Last week, Ariana Grande released her latest single, “yes, and?” Before we discuss the lyrics and message, let’s talk about the music video, which is a hilariously cheap imitation of Paula Abdul’s incredible music video for “Cold Hearted.” Abdul’s “Cold Hearted” video is iconic – directed by David Fincher!! – and it showed off Abdul’s strengths as a dancer and choreographer. Ari’s video is just her, posing and looking prissy and washed out. The ashy blonde looks awful on her and oh, by the way, the song sucks.

A sampling of the lyrics: “Yes, and?/Say that sh-t with your chest, and/Be your own f–kin’ best friend.” And: “Now, I’m so done with caring/What you think, no, I won’t hide/Underneath your own projections/Or change my most authentic life.” This is the lyric which got the most attention: “What’s mine is mine/My face is sitting, I don’t need no disguise/Don’t comment on my body, do not reply/Your business is yours and mine is mine/Why do you care so much whose d–k I ride?/Why?”

So, Ariana has spent the past six months dealing with the breakup of her first marriage, which came around the same time she began having an affair with a married man, Ethan Slater. Her affair with Slater blew up last July and Ariana was in the trenches because Slater’s wife would not go away and allow Ari to run the table. At the time of Ethan and Ari’s affair, Ethan and Lilly Jay’s child wasn’t even one year old. Ari started f–king a married man who had a wife and child at home, then Ari threw a huge tantrum when Lilly openly bad-mouthed her. This is the opposite of “Your business is yours and mine is mine/Why do you care so much whose d–k I ride?” Chica, your business was all over the tabloids because you made a huge mess which hurt your man’s wife and child. Ari’s fans are not happy about any of this, and it looks like Lilly Jay still wants her feelings to be known as well. From a Daily Mail exclusive:

Ariana Grande has come under fire from those close to Ethan Slater’s estranged wife Lilly Jay, who accused the singer of failing to exhibit any ‘remorse’ over her controversial relationship with the theatre star in her new single, Yes, And?

A source close to Lilly, 29, slammed the singer for her ‘disrespectful’ attitude and accused her of a complete lack of ’empathy.’

‘For her to take the opportunity in her first song since all of this went down to show a complete lack of remorse for her actions is utterly disrespectful,’ the insider raged. ‘Ariana is dating a man who is still married. She is flaunting her relationship with a married man – a married man who has a one-year-old child at home with his still wife. Yes, Ariana has destroyed a home and she does not seem to care.’

The source ripped into the singer for failing to take the time to exhibit growth and humility amid the widespread criticism she has faced for her new relationship. ‘She lacks empathy,’ they continued. ‘Ariana could have taken this opportunity to create music that would be therapeutic for her to heal and for fans to listen to. She could have taken this time to create art that would help those who were hurt to heal. But she didn’t. She created art that basically says, “f*** you I don’t care what I did to hurt anyone because I am happy.”‘

A source close to Ariana hit back at the accusations, claiming the song does not ‘address anyone specific.’

‘The song clearly does not address anyone specific or any one specific instance,’ they told DailyMail.com. ‘Ariana has been the subject of public scrutiny for over a decade. If you watch the video, the people she’s performing to are literally played by critics. The lyrics and the video are really quite clear. It is a song about not judging each other or a situation by hearsay and about how you never know what people are going through or healing from.’

[From The Daily Mail]
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12957635/ariana-grande-remorse-ethan-slater-wife-yes-single.html

I think the video is supposed to be more about “Ari vs the critics” but the lyrics are about Spongebob Sidepiece and his wife. The thing is, music critics were never raging about Ariana’s music either way – she has her fans and she has people who don’t care about her music, and that’s it. She’s never made music for the critics anyway? Which is why the whole thing falls flat, lyrically, visually, artistically. It makes no sense. And yes, Ari does come across as someone who lacks empathy. I hate to frame it this way, but Ari simply isn’t a “girl’s girl.” She doesn’t have female friends who are like “girl, can you stop f–king married men?”

Photos courtesy of Ariana’s Instagram.