Ariana Grande has spoken about her “vulnerability” when it comes being in the spotlight and having people constantly comment on her body.
Speaking in a TikTok video, the singer-songwriter, 29, said she “wanted to address” concerns about her appearance that the public have been talking about for a “decade or longer”.
“I just wanted to … talk a little bit about what it means to be a person with a body and to be seen and to be paid such close attention to,” she said.
“I think we could be, I think we should be, gentler and less comfortable commenting on people’s bodies, no matter what.”
The two-time Grammy award-winning artist added: “If you think you’re saying something good or well-intentioned, whatever it is, healthy, unhealthy, big, small, this, that, sexy, non-sexy … we just should really work towards not doing that as much.
“There are ways to compliment someone or to ignore something that you see that you don’t like, that I think we should help each other work towards… We should aim toward being safer, and keeping each other safer.”
Grande has been open about her mental health following the Manchester Arena attack at her concert in May 2017 when a suicide bomber killed 22 people.
She told Vogue in June 2018 that she “always had anxiety” and the following year shared an image on Instagram showing the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on her brain.
Grande, whose hits include One Last Time, Dangerous Woman, and Thank U, Next, added in the video: “There are many different kinds of beautiful… personally, 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.
“I know I shouldn’t have to explain that but I do feel like maybe having an openness and some sort of vulnerability here will [mean] something good might come from it.
“Healthy can look different.”
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She added: “You never know what someone is going through even if you are coming from a loving place and a caring place, that person probably is working on it or has a support system that they are working on it with.
“You never know. So be gentle with each other and with yourselves.
“I think you’re beautiful, no matter what you’re going through, no matter what weight, no matter how you like to do your makeup these days, no matter what cosmetic procedures you’ve had or not.”
Grande is set to star as Glinda the Good Witch in the upcoming Wicked film based on the hit musical of the same name.
Oscar-nominated British actress Cynthia Erivo will appear as Elphaba – the Wicked Witch of the West.
