How ‘blackfishing’, ‘home wrecking’ and Ozempic scandals have seen Ariana Grande’s child-star status come crashing down

Ariana Grande has gone from a child actress to a worldwide popstar and now starring in the long-awaited Wicked film - heavily surrounded by rumours of Oscar nominations.

And while it looks like she’s played her cards well to get the part of the Good Witch Glinda - it seem’s Ariana has a shadier past than most.

From licking doughnuts and shouting ‘I hate America’ in her teen years to being accused of stealing men and blackfishing to carve out her music career, the 31-year-old has been swept up in her fair share of drama.

And that’s not all, recently actress Cassandra Peterson went public saying she was ‘the worst celebrity’ she’d ever met, here we look at Ariana’s treacherous path to stardom leading up to Wicked.

Young & Offensive  

Propelled into stardom at the age of 16 as the goofy and dimwitted Cat Valentine in the hit Nickelodeon show Victorious, Ariana soon won over audiences and became the most popular actress from the show.

It led her to be the co-star of Sam & Cat four years later on the same TV show - but she soon decided to move on to pursue her singing career.

All seemed to be going well for the red-head as she released her debut album Your Truly in 2013 which was a success across the world.

While it had no number-one hits - it did secure Ariana a second album in 2015 titled My Everything which featured successful songs like Break Free and Problem.

But perhaps the stardom and newfound attention was getting too much for Ariana who was spotted at the age of 22 licking doughnuts on display in a store and saying she hated America.

Taking to Youtube, she said: “First of all, I mean, my behavior was very offensive, and I apologized.

“There’s no excuse or there’s nothing to justify it.

“As human beings we all say and do things that we don’t mean at all sometimes, and we have to learn from it,” she said. “I think one of the biggest things I learned from that was what it feels like to disappoint so many people who love and believe in you, and that’s an excruciating feeling.”

But it wouldn’t be the last time Ariana would slip up in the watchful eyes of the public.

Later, Ariana admitted to stopping interviews for a while as she was afraid of the ‘diva’ label that kept cropping up at the time which lost gigs at the MLB All-Star Game and the White House.

Homewrecker

Ariana has had to dodge rumours about her dating life ever since she got into the public eye - especially regarding her stealing men.

It also started when she dated Big Sean in 2014, who made their relationship public when they went on the red carpet together in 2015 at the Grammys.

However, it was clear to most that their relationship was never going to last, especially after she stole Big Sean from Naya Rivera, an actress who tragically passed in 2020 in a boating accident.

Before her passing, she did write a tell-all book about her time in Hollywood titled Sorry Not Sorry where she heavily hinted at Ariana’s involvement in her engagement to Big Sean being called off.

Naya wrote: “I walk in, go downstairs, and guess what little girl is sitting cross-legged on the couch listening to music? … It rhymes with ‘Smariana Schmande. I learned that I was no longer getting married from the internet and at the same time as the rest of the world. Not only were we no longer getting married, but apparently we weren’t even together anymore.

Not long after, Ariana and Sean began dating leading many to question if there was any crossover.

Recently, she’s been accused yet again of splitting up a couple - this time her fellow Wicked co-star Ethan Slater.

It seems the pair met while filming the much-anticipated movie and their relationship blossomed while they were both married - although sources behind the scenes claim they were both separated at the time.

Furious fans were quick to note Ethan’s wife, Lily Jay, had very recently given birth to their first child when rumours of their love started to surface.

Breaking her silence, Lily was reported to have told Page Six: “[Ariana’s] the story really. Not a girl’s girl.

“My family is just collateral damage.”

People on X, formerly known as Twitter, were riled up, one wrote: “I notice how everyone is treating Ariana being a homewrecker too lightly… they really don’t care that she’s a bad person/cheater.”

“Ariana has caused many a heartbreak in her life. Homewrecker,” another chimed in.

At first, Ethan and Ariana kept quiet as they both were in divorce proceedings - but it seems the pair are now open about their relationship sharing moments on stage at the premiere of the film and discussing their relationship in interviews.

“He’s always that adorable,” Ariana told Entertainment Tonight at the Los Angeles premiere of Wicked. “And he’s so amazing in this film. He’s such an amazing person. I’m so happy people are getting to know him. My heart is very happy.”

‘Blackfishing’

Ariana has recently ditched the fake tan and filler - embracing her natural appearance but in the past, she has gone all out on making herself look like a bronzed goddess.

And her previous style has come under fire many times by fans and haters alike who say Ariana was ‘blackfishing’.

The term blackfishing is a word used to accuse someone of pretending to be black or mixed-race using things like hairstyling and makeup to make them appear darker as if they have black heritage or are mixed-race.

And many people online have called out Ariana for doing this.

While she does have Italian heritage - many say that she excessively used fake tan, dark makeup and even put on an accent during her Thank You Next era in 2019.

The popstar looked much darker than she did four years ago starring on Nickelodeon and many accused her voice of changing too.

One TikTok video showcasing how her accent has changed during those years and people were stunned by how much deeper and raspier it sounded.

“It’s actually insane because as a Deutch native speaker I hear the blaccent,” wrote one.

Another added: “When I was younger I didn’t even know she was white,” while a third penned: “This is the voice change she needs to address!”

Responding to the recent changes to her voice, which has become much breathier and higher since landing the role of Glinda, she said: “I intentionally change my vocal placement (high / low) often depending on how much singing I’m doing. I’ve always done this BYE.”

She also admitted to having her filler removed and has ditched the fake tan embracing her pale skin for now.

Worst Celebrity Ever

Ariana’s most recent scandal includes being dragged in public by the actress Cassandra Peterson in a live Q&A with fans.

Asked to describe her worst celebrity encounter she revealed it was Ariana Grande who came to see Cassandra perform.

“I’ll tell you briefly… she came and she brought 20 guests, so she wanted 20, 21 tickets.

“We’re like, ‘OK,’ and we give her the tickets. She comes backstage and she asks if I could take pictures with all of her friends and relatives she brought.” She added that she took pictures of Ariana and signed autographs for the group, before being snubbed by Ariana when she asked for a picture with the singer.

She continued: “Then I say to her, ‘Can we take a photo together?’ She goes, ‘Nah, I don’t really do that.'” She went on to say that Ariana then left the performance before Elvira’s set even started.

Cassandra shared the story on her Instagram which Ariana did respond to publicly apologising for her behaviour: “I’m so disheartened to see this. I actually don’t even remember getting the chance to meet you because I had an anxiety attack and to my memory, left before the rest of my family (this was around 7 years ago and at the time I was really not great with being in public crowds or loud places)… but if I’m misremembering this moment, I sincerely apologize for offending you so.

“Thank you for being so nice to my mom, she told me how lovely you were (she might have different feelings about that now but I’ll talk to her… clearly, we all have our days!) sending love always.

“You’ll always be our queen of Halloween!”

Weight Concerns

Amid the excitement of the world tour promoting the new Wicked film alongside her co-stars, Ariana's weight loss has left many people concerned.

While she attended the Los Angeles premiere X users commented on how thin she was looking recently.

"She's skin and bones," one person replied to a video of her arriving at the event.

"Ariana looks unhealthily skinny," agreed another user, while a third asked, "Has Ariana always been this damn thin?"

While another user wondered if the actors experienced drug-induced weight loss during the shoot of their musical film. “Were they passing out Ozempic shots on set?”

Taking to TikTok last year, Ariana addressed her fans on her sudden change of appearance.

She said: "For me, the body that you've been comparing my current body to was the unhealthiest version of my body.

"I was on a lot of antidepressants and drinking on them and eating poorly and at the lowest point of my life when I looked the way you consider my healthy, but that, in fact, wasn't my healthy."