Dear Ariana,
Grande props to you, girl.
You turned tragedy into triumph. You helped raise, as of press time, some $13 million for terrorist attack victims. And you made me love you.
I didn't want to. I really didn't want to.
Admittedly my initial irritation where you are concerned wasn't even your fault. It was because of your mas grande, grating brother Frankie Grande. In 2014, he, with a voice even louder than his pink hair, starred on CBS' Big Brother and continually name-dropped that you -- a-Broadway-performer-turned-Nickelodeon-girl-turned-pop-star -- were his sister. So I already was annoyed by you, even though I appreciated your powerhouse pipes and found your songs supremely car-dance worthy.
And then the diva talk began.
Giuliana Rancic of E! says you were difficult on the red carpet at an awards show, insisting that you be photographed only on your left -- "good" -- side: "I just felt like it's one thing if it's Mariah, you know, I'll get on any side, I'll bend down, I'll climb a ladder, whatever it takes to get Mariah to do an interview. But when you're new on the block ... you just gotta do what you gotta do, try to get a great reputation, try to go overboard to please people."
And there was the rumor you demanded that your staff carry you. According to In Touch: "Her new rule is that she has to be carried -- literally carried like a baby -- when she doesn't feel like walking," said a so-called source. "She says that she doesn't want her precious feet to hit the floor."
And then the New York Post's Page Six, quoted an "insider" who said that your lousy attitude even made your life coach quit: "He just couldn't take it anymore."
Of course, we all remember the 2015 video of you licking -- and not buying -- a doughnut from a tray on the counter of a shop while declaring "I hate Americans. I hate America." The move cost you not only fans, but a White House gig.
But fast-forward to May 22. Following your performance in Manchester, a terrorist attack killed 22 and injured more than 50 concertgoers. You tweeted, "broken. from the bottom of my heart, i am so sorry. i don't have words." You would have more words for your fans on May 26, tweeting, "Our response to this violence must be to come closer together, to help each other, to love more, to sing louder and to live more kindly and generously than we did before."
No one would have blamed you if you, a self-made multimillionaire at age 23, never wanted to perform again, let alone return to England. (Perhaps that cranky Piers Morgan blamed you; he criticized you for immediately returning home to the United States.)
But instead you announced you'd be back, performing a benefit concert there just two weeks after the attack. You mobilized other popular performers, including Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Coldplay and Pharrell Williams, and put on One Love Manchester to benefit the survivors. Not only that, but you hugged wounded fans in the hospital and you accommodated the wishes of a 15-year-old fan, Olivia, who perished in the attack, after talking to her mom.
"Olivia would have wanted to hear the hits," you told the crowd of 50,000. "We had a different show planned and we had a rehearsal yesterday and we changed everything."
You not only helped, you healed and you did so hours after yet another terrorist attack in London. You embraced an overwhelmed 12-year-old school choir soloist and you too would be overcome with emotion during your set, modestly delivered in jeans and a simple graffiti One Love Manchester crewneck sweatshirt ($40 at the onelovemanchestershop.com) with proceeds going to the British Red Cross Society for its "We Love Manchester Emergency Fund."
Morgan apologized on social media on behalf of himself and anyone else who had disregarded you in the past: "I misjudged you, @ArianaGrande & I apologise. You're an admirable young woman & this is a magnificent night. Respect."
I applaud you too.
Love,
Jennifer
P.S. Oh, OK. I understand your brother also was a goodwill ambassador, meeting fans prior to the benefit concert. So frankly, I owe credit to Frankie, too.
Email:
jchristman@arkansasonline.com
Spin Cycle is a smirk at pop culture. You can hear Jennifer on Little Rock's KURB-FM, B98.5 (B98.com), from 5:30 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday.
Style on 06/11/2017