Note: the following article contains discussions of child abuse and murder that some readers may find distressing.
Uh oh: Ariana Grande just made a major faux pas. And no, she isn't licking doughnuts or saying that she hates America (for those of you that forgot) — this time, she commented that JonBenét Ramsey, a 6-year-old former beauty pageant queen and murder victim whose case still remains unsolved, makes a trendy "Halloween look". Not. Cool.
On Instagram, one of Ariana's friends, Doug Middlebrook, posted a picture of JonBenét on the cover of a tabloid. "No one has done more covers," he wrote in the deeply questionable photo caption.
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In response to his post, Ariana replied: "I can't WAIT for this to be your Halloween look," along with a black heart emoji. Inspired by Ariana's encouragement, Doug responded that he's "working on [his costume] already". Which... yikes.
A fan took a screenshot of their exchange and publicly outed Ariana and Doug for their insensitive comments. "Wait WHAT?? a [6]-year-old girl who was violently killed, strangled and suffocated cannot be anyone's costume..." the user tweeted.
The original post and their corresponding comments have since been deleted, but because this is the internet, screenshots are forever.
Ariana went online to apologise for her mistake, saying that as soon as she realised that her comment may have offended people, she took it down.
"Yeah no, I deleted it very quickly and understand that it's not at all funny. This was out of pocket and I sincerely apologise,” she tweeted.
Some fans of Ari's are still unhappy though, because they don't agree she deleted her comment "quickly", considering it was up for a full day before she removed it.
In the time since the controversy and her apology, Ariana appears to have moved on from the fan hate and is promoting her newest single, 'Boyfriend', with Social House.
Readers who are affected by the issues raised in this story are encouraged to contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000 (www.nspcc.org.uk). Readers in the US are encouraged to contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline on (1-800-422-4453) or the American SPCC (www.americanspcc.org).
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