Ariana Grande, 33, has announced through a representative that she will step back from public-facing work after her Eternal Sunshine Tour concludes on September 1.
“Ariana will be taking a step back from visibility after she completes the Eternal Sunshine Tour,” her rep said. “She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny.”
The statement continued: “This tour has been a beautiful experience for her. She loves her fans and has loved every minute of this tour so much.”
Grande is stepping back from her planned West End debut in Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George, where she was set to play Dot opposite her Wicked co-star Jonathan Bailey as George.
According to her rep, Grande has withdrawn from the revival, “with the source saying she ‘cannot wait to support the brilliant team bringing this project to life.'”
Empire Street Productions, the show’s producers, shared a statement: “We can confirm that she has decided to step back from Sunday in the Park with George. We know this cannot have been an easy decision, and she makes it with our complete understanding and support.”
The announcement comes at a turbulent moment.
The news follows Grande’s release of the music video for “Petal,” the title single from her newly released eighth studio album, which sparked speculation about her physical health.
After Grande released the seven-minute visual alongside her album Petal, some viewers expressed concern about what they perceived as additional weight loss.
Several viewers focused on Grande’s appearance during scenes in which she wears black leggings, an off-the-shoulder top and a platinum-blonde hairstyle.
Some social-media users said she appeared noticeably thinner and expressed concern for her well-being, with one saying “She is extremely thin and it’s concerning” and another remarking “I think people are allowed to be concerned for her health.”
One YouTube commenter wrote: “as an Ari fan, the song and video are absolutely incredible concepts and incredibly executed but honestly all I can think about is how I hope she’s okay because she literally looks ill. She needs to get help.”
Other fans defended Grande, urging everyone to “mind your own f–kin business.”
The video has reignited an uncomfortable public debate over her appearance, despite the singer’s repeated requests for people to stop speculating about her body, with some fans arguing that the reactions amounted to body-shaming disguised as concern.
The scrutiny intensified during the promotional push for the Wicked films.
Over the past few years especially, the singer has dealt with “endless” comments on her appearance especially, most notably her weight, which was heightened during the press runs for Wicked and Wicked: For Good, as well as her ongoing tour.
Grande, a three-time Grammy winner and former child star of Nickelodeon favorites, reached Hollywood A-list status with the 2024 release of the Wicked movie, in which she played Glinda, the good, opposite Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba. The film was a cultural phenomenon, earning Academy Award nominations for best picture and best supporting actress for Grande.
While Ariana has not addressed comments on her body recently, she has in the past called out “bullying” from fans and social media users over her appearance and for perceived ideas of her health and lifestyle.
Her rep pushed back on concerns about her health.
“She performs a very physical show, and there is a lot of athleticism involved. She performs healthily and successfully at a very high level night after night.”
In the viral moment leading to her statement, the “Petal” music video itself depicted a confrontation with criticism.
The visual opens with Grande in character as Pepper, an aspiring star who sits among dozens of other hopefuls inside fictional Fame INC. headquarters to audition for a panel of older men in suits. She leaves disappointed after they hand her an evaluation sheet stamped “Not good enough.”
Studio executives label her “unmarketable”, “unattractive” and “inauthentic”, before she returns with a chainsaw in an exaggerated horror sequence that ends with the executives being attacked.
The Eternal Sunshine Tour will conclude September 1, after the last show in Grande’s 10-concert stand at London’s O2 Arena.