Frankie Grande is 'beyond heartbroken' over Mac Miller's death, says rapper was the reason he went to rehab

Five days after rapper Mac Miller died tragically at 26 by a suspected drug overdose, his friend Frankie Grande is paying tribute.

Grande shared an emotional statement about Miller, who he knew as a friend and the boyfriend of his younger sister Ariana Grande, on social media Wednesday. “I am beyond heartbroken over Malcolm’s death,” Grande began. “He was a good friend and was wonderful to my sister.”

The actor and former Big Brother contestant then credited Miller with being the reason he went to rehab to deal with his alcohol and prescription drug abuse. In a letter written for People in June, Grande revealed that he’d descended into a “very dark place” following the May 2017 bombing at Ariana’s concert in Manchester, England, that left 22 dead and several dozen more injured.

Grande said it was the rehab center that Miller had steered him to where he found the “community of support that showed me that living life without drugs was a possibility and I would never have discovered that if it weren’t for Malcolm.”

In fact, Grande said Miller was a real cheerleader during his recovery.

“I remember when I would get 30, 60, 90 days clean and [Malcolm] would be there with a gift and a card and words of encouragement… telling me that he knew how hard getting sober is and how impressed he was that I was succeeding,” Grande wrote.

Miller and Ariana Grande began dating in early 2016 but ended their relationship in May 2018. “This is one of my best friends in the whole world and favorite people on the planet,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories to confirm their split. “I respect and adore him endlessly and am grateful to have him in my life in any form, at all times regardless of how our relationship changes or what the universe holds for each of us!”

The “No Tears Left to Cry” singer shared a simple black-and-white photo of her former partner over the weekend. She also shut off the comments after some people blamed her for Miller’s death.

However, Miller’s friend Shane Powers dispelled that notion Tuesday on his podcast “The Shane Show.” Powers called Ariana Grande “an unbelievably stabilizing force in [Mac’s] life,” praising her for helping the rapper get sober, even though Powers didn’t like her “very much.”

“[Miller] had a lot of good stuff going on,” Powers said. “Ariana and him were together, and they were very much in love and I have to say — she was incredible when he was first sobering up. She was a f***ing ‘G’ to him. There could not have been anybody more supportive of him being sober than Ariana. I saw that, I was around it, I took phone calls from her, ‘How do I help? What do I do?’ This little girl was unbelievably involved and helpful to him being healthy.”

Frankie Grande wrote in his post that it was Miller who had helped him. He urged anyone who needs help with addiction to reach out for assistance.

“[Malcolm] my friend, you will be dearly missed,” Grande wrote. “And I know you will be looking down on me from heaven, proudAF for every day I live my life clean and sober… 453 days and counting… Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

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