Ariana Grande Addresses Media Attention Amid Ethan Slater Romance

Ariana Grande isn't going to focus on any rumors.

Still, the "Yes, And?" singer—whose romance with Wicked costar Ethan Slater made headlines last summer—knows she can't completely break free from narratives that don't align with her real life.

"We selectively remember that this is what the tabloids do to people, especially women, based on whether or not we like the person," Ariana said on the Feb. 26 episode of the Zach Sang Show. "We selectively remember that. We selectively leave space for humanness, for nuance. Like, they don't leave space for that—well, they do for their friends and their family. It's selective. But they turn it off when that aligns with the version of a person that they have in their head that they want to believe is true."

And while she may want to set the record straight when it comes to these rumors, the two-time Grammy winner admitted there isn't "enough time" to go through them all. 

"I feel like we don't need to go into any specifics," she continued. "But of course, there's an insatiable frustration, inexplicable, hellish feeling with watching people misunderstand the people you love, and you and anything."

In fact, Ariana—whose breakup with ex-husband Dalton Gomez was revealed not long before her new relationship was made public—expressed concern that her upcoming album Eternal Sunshine will fuel speculation people may already have about her world.

"Pieces of it touch on things that are real and then pieces of it are also just like…part of the concept," she added. "So what is that separation? And it's so scary to leave it up to these selective memory people to decipher. It's scary. But I digress. It's too late. The vinyls have been printed."

This isn't the first time Ariana has spoken about what it's like to constantly face public scrutiny. After all, the "Thank U, Next" artist ended 2023 with a heartfelt reflection on the past year. 

"I have never felt more pride or joy or love while simultaneously feeling so deeply misunderstood by people who don't know me, who piece whispers together and make what they want out of me and their assumptions of my life," Ariana wrote in part of a December Instagram Stories post. "I have learned how much more important one of those things is than the other."

"I have never felt more tightly held or fiercely protected by those who love and understand me (friends, family, and fans alike)," she continued. "I feel safe even amidst so many things I'd usually be afraid of. I'm listening to and trusting myself, even when fear or trauma tells me not to. I am reacting to things that deserve my energy only and removing and protecting myself from things that do not."