Celebrities always feel compelled to explain why they are taking a break.
This never happens with normies. At the end of a party, you don’t gather the other guests in a circle to let them know you are leaving but that everything is fine. You don’t inexplicably speak of the need to set “boundaries.”
You don’t say things such as “human beings can need a break sometimes” or “no matter what noises exist out there, nothing will ever be able to distort my reality or be more real to me or elaborate to me than this love that we share.”
A friend would snatch your car keys and check the 7-layer dip for LSD.
The quotes above came from Ariana Grande on Monday night. She interrupted her concert in Chicago to give fans a spoken word PSA. She wanted to clarify speculation that started the day before when People quoted a rep saying the singer would be “taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny.”
Ms. Grande is dropping out of a London stage musical. She was set to star with Jonathan Bailey in Stephen Sondheim’s “Sunday in the Park with George” in 2027. There will be no more concerts for a while after her “Eternal Sunshine Tour” ends next month.
Which brings us back to the dark clouds of “ongoing public scrutiny.”
Last Thursday, Grande released the video for “Petal,” the title track from her new album. It has racked up more than 12 million views. It also generated fears in the comments: “I can see her whole skeletal system. This isn’t right.” “I can’t even enjoy the video without thinking she looks sickly every second she is on the screen.” “She’s is (sic) surrounded by enablers, Eating disorders are not a joke.”
It’s usually harder to find nuance in YouTube comments than it is to buy a pneumatic drill at Panda Express. But to skim these epistles is to feel the genuine concern of her fans. They are worried.
Their eyes, right or wrong, see a problem.
The sad reality is female celebrities are the most scrutinized life-forms on the planet. The tabloids fixate on weight gain or loss. In recent weeks, Amy Schumer has literally been reduced from a comedian to a GLP-1 talking point in an unofficial ad for Mounjaro.
Ask Jennifer Aniston about the pain those false “pregnancy bump” stories brought over the years. Ask Oprah to make sense of the obsession with her dress size.
Female celebrities can’t even age out of this silhouette-measuring microscope.
One of my pet peeves is when headline writers add a woman’s age to a story about her posing in swimwear, as if the prospect is more unimaginable than antigravity propulsion: “Elizabeth Hurley, 60, Stuns in a Nautical-Coded Bikini as She Poses for Selfies on the Beach.” “Kathy Griffin, 65, Goes Makeup-Free in Plunging Orange Bikini While Doing Yoga Poses in Hawaii.” “Halle Berry, 59, Wows in a Strappy Black Thong Bikini.”
Meanwhile, I couldn’t tell you the ages of Sydney Sweeney or Emily Ratajkowski because such chronological data never appears in similar headlines. From the last 24 hours: “Sydney Sweeney Posed in Lingerie For Racy New Mirror Selfie Photos.” “Emily Ratajkowski Strips Down to Her Birthday Suit While Going Skinny Dipping on Vacation.”
What does all of this have to do with Ariana Grande? Everything.
The singer is trapped inside a fishbowl of fame in which her appearance keeps causing onlookers to peer closer and make value judgments about her health. I’m not judging the judgers. Their alarm is not coming from malice.
Much commentary this week is debating if we should even be discussing her body at all.
Some say it’s important. Some say it’s none of our business. While I generally lean toward the latter, I also have a childhood memory of watching my mother cry after Karen Carpenter died.
Let me be clear: I am not suggesting Ariana Grande has an eating disorder. It’s her fans who are saying that.
Now, her body is back where it does not belong: in the news. This is itself unhealthy.
She is right to take a break from the spotlight. She just shouldn’t have announced it because now the “ongoing public scrutiny” is in overdrive.
Every celebrity can learn from luminaries, past and present, like Beyoncé, Cameron Diaz or Bridget Fonda, who come and go as they please without press releases or explanations. They recharge in the shadows. They don’t make career choices based on outside noise.
The story here isn’t that Grande is taking a break after a global tour. That’s entirely reasonable.
The story is that modern fame leaves no room for a planned vanishing act without a public sermon. And using words such as “healthily” or “empowered” only causes others to question both.
A celebrity hiatus does not need a rollout plan that is publicly disclosed.
Just quietly walk away and come back when you’re ready.
