Ariana Grande Manager Scooter Braun Reflects on Manchester: ‘I Choose to Live Rather Than Be Afraid’
Late Wednesday, two days after a suicide bomber killed 22 people and injured 59 outside Ariana Grande’s concert in Manchester, her manager Scooter Braun posted a series of emotional notes on his Twitter account reflecting on the tragedy.
“Tonight I got home and took my parents out to dinner,” he wrote. “Korean bbq. We drank and ate and laughed with the tables next to us. I experienced joy for the first time in days. And I remembered…we are free. We are all different but we are free to enjoy each other’s company. I will honor those that are lost by living each day full: Full of fun, full of laughter, full of joy. I welcome the differences of my neighbor.
“The wish of terrorism is to take away that feeling of freedom and joy,” he continued. “No. That is my answer. No. We can’t allow it. Fear cannot rule the day. More people die each year from car crashes than terrorism, yet I will get in my car. I will choose to live [rather than] be afraid. So… Manchester, I stand with you. Jakarta, I stand with you. Children of Syria, I stand with you. We will honor you by not giving in to the darkness.
“So if you think you scared us… if you think your cowardice act made us change how we live… sorry. All you did was make us appreciate every day. We must fight extraordinary evil with extraordinary greatness. Fight on. Goodnight world. Tomorrow I live full. I will honor all of you by laughing, loving and living — living full for every wonderful, innocent child whose life was taken too soon.
“Am I angry? Hell yes. But how will we respond? With everything you think you took from us… love and joy and life!” [Variety lightly edited the posts for clarity.]
Grande, who is in Florida with her family, cancelled seven dates on her European tour, which will resume on June 7 in Paris and continue to South America and Asia.
Braun, 35, also manages Justin Bieber and co-manages Kanye West and is the founder of SB Projects.
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