Ariana Grande clarifies she did not find fiancé Pete Davidson's joke about the Manchester bombing funny
Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson's relationship was scrutinized after a joke made by the comedian about the Manchester bombing resurfaced on the internet. People were quick to criticize him for his comments which suggested that Ariana is more famous than pop singer Britney Spears ‘because Britney Spears didn’t have a terrorist attack at her concert.' After seeing a pool of negative response, the singer has finally broken her silence with regard to the joke.
Taking to Twitter, Ariana decided to respond to a fan's tweet which suggested that she and Pete should not be together for the joke he made. "I respect Ariana and I want her to be happy and everything, but she was just broken after the Manchester bombing, so I don’t know why she is still with Pete, like yeah he made that joke a while ago, but like it’s not funny, it's just rude. This is my opinion," the fan wrote.
The singer responded to the tweet and made it clear that it was a topic she had thought about a lot. "This has been v tough & conflicting on my heart. he uses comedy to help ppl feel better ab how f-ed up things in this world are. we all deal w trauma differently. I, of course, didn't find it funny. it was months ago & his intention wasn't/ is never malicious but it was unfortunate," she wrote. She then added another tweet in which she wrote that she respects the opinions of her fans.
As Ariana mentioned, the bombing took place in 2017, before she and Pete started dating. The bombing killed twenty-three people and left 136 people wounded, where more than half of them were children. The attack was considered to be a suicide bombing in which the bomb was triggered as people were leaving the arena following the performance of the singer.
Ariana has been emotionally connected to the incident. The singer has a worker bee- a symbol of Manchester linked to the city’s industrial past tattooed behind her ear which she made as a tribute to the victims. At the same time, the singer had returned to the city for another performance for a charity function. While Ariana has now responded to Pete's joke about the bombing, there are others who were not willing to let it slide.
While Pete and Ariana are new into their relationship, some fans are urging the singer to think twice about him since his tasteless joke. Even the victims of the Manchester bombing attack were appalled to hear of it. Speaking to Mirror, Charlotte Hodgson, who lost her 15-year-old daughter Olivia Campbell-Hardy in the incident called his joke 'disgusting'. "For anyone to joke about this situation is disgusting and I think he should publicly apologize for it," she said. "The families will find it equally as disgusting. We don’t need jokes about it, there have been plenty around, and it’s heartbreaking to hear every day. But for someone so famous to be doing it and now to be with Ariana, it’s outrageous. I think she would be horrified too."
At the same time, Jade Clough, who survived the attack was also shocked to hear the joke. "I think it’s absolutely disgusting, I’m shocked," she told the tabloid. "This isn’t something to joke about, it was a terrorist attack targeted at children. You don’t joke about things like that in a stand-up comedy show. I’m still suffering on a daily basis, I still have nightmares, and Ariana herself has suffered from PTSD. What the hell?"