People Are Angry Over Ariana Grande's Joke About JonBenét Ramsey
Is it too early to be thinking about Halloween? For Ariana Grande, it's not, but the usually fun-filled holiday got a little controversial when she made an off-color joke on Instagram. Cosmopolitan reports that Grande's friend, Doug Middlebrook, posted an image of tabloid covers to his account, noting that JonBenét Ramsey continues to get coverage, 23 years after her death.
"No one has ever done more covers," he wrote.
Ariana commented, "I can't WAIT for this to be your Halloween look," alongside a black heart emoji. Middlebrook then responded that he's "working on it [his costume] already."
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
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Followers found the whole situation to be in poor taste, even though Grande was clearly joking. Ramsey was killed in 1996. To this day, her case hasn't been solved and manages to get coverage from supermarket tabloids, true-crime podcasts, and, now, pop star-adjacent social media users. Grande deleted the comment, but it was captured by savvy IG users.
Wait WHAT?? an 8-year-old girl who was violently killed, strangled and suffocated cannot be anyone's costume... pic.twitter.com/MwaAXavyBE
— IVAN (@ivanmoratroya) July 29, 2019
Fans are calling for an official apology, with many saying that Grande's apology was too late (she claimed to have deleted it "very quickly") and only because she was getting called out on social media. In a tweet, Grande said that her comment was "out of pocket" and offered a simple apology.
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sis it was up for a day you didn’t delete it quickly. you got caught and if someone would’ve never posted it your comment will probably still be there. just get off social media you’re just gonna make it worse
— 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘦 (@arianasdiviine) July 29, 2019
release an official statement. im so disappointed this is NOT it ariana
— mia (@triviagiaw) July 29, 2019
i love u, i really do, but this comment was absolutely disgusting and i hope u say more about the situation than just apologizing about it bc somebody called u out in a tweet. a proper statement would be better
— justin (fan account) (@jusghostin) July 29, 2019
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Celebrities seem to have questionable Halloween costumes on lock every year. In the past, stars managed to spark outrage with their choices, like when Ashley Benson dressed as a sexy Cecil the Lion and Heidi Klum celebrated as a Hindu goddess. In 2012, Chris Brown dressed up as a "terrorist." Chrissy Teigen dressed as a Native American and Hilary Duff wore a pilgrim costume to "match" with then-boyfriend Jason Walsh's Native American costume. Grande's pal Middlebrook could be joining their ranks, though after the criticism his friend had to endure, he should probably re-think the whole JonBenét costume idea.
