Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande’s body isn’t an invitation to public debate | Opinion
Whether you realize it or not, aggressively inquisitive comments about your perception of someone’s body may seem like care, but they’re rooted in a perverse form of entitlement
Kenneth Williams Jr.
Opinion contributor
July 12, 2026, 6:01 a.m. ET
Can I share a hard truth with you? You can display concern for Ariana Grande’s physical health while still being an active participant in her dogpiling
I don’t say that as an overzealous fan who spends hours at a time memorizing her discography, but as a human who’s been on the other side of unfair discourse surrounding my physical appearance
When the award-winning singer and actor first announced tour dates for her highly anticipated Eternal Sunshine Tour, I undoubtedly assumed its opening night would be a spectacle of fan reactions, given her foray back into live music
While I expected to see dialogue about her costumes or setlist, I was baffled to see Grande’s physical appearance become a focal point in the news cycle, paired with unflinching commentary. That was despite comments from her asking people to stop
While much of this fodder has been glossed with expressions of kindness, it speaks to a broader issue: how Americans have conflated care with entitlement, especially when someone’s body changes in ways we think we understand
Whether you realize it or not, those aggressively inquisitive comments surrounding the perception of someone’s body may seem like care, but they’re rooted in a perverse form of entitlement. This entitlement, exercised most commonly on women, people of color and other marginalized groups, normalizes the invasion of people’s personal orbit regardless of whether they’ve weighed in or not
We witnessed this firsthand when “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman was lambasted for changes to his appearance – before passing away after a four-year battle with colon cancer
Ariana Grande deserves empathy, not assumptions
I’ve never subscribed to the idea of needing to know the inner workings of anyone’s personal sanctum in order to extend grace. Plainly put, I don’t believe anyone’s physical appearance is anyone else’s concern but their own. What would happen if our first instinct was to lead with grace when someone’s body is changing as opposed to investigation?
It is worth noting that Grande’s celebrity profile unquestionably shapes how she’s discussed in the media. It’s almost expected for a celebrity-obsessed culture to hone in on an artist of that magnitude, but is she not deserving of basic empathy?
This isn’t to condemn medical professionals, advocates and survivors who’ve used their platforms to show support and provide helpful information about eating disorders with their respective followings, as I believe that kind of camaraderie can save lives
But the truth is that when we continue to engage in public commentary about someone’s weight, we help sustain a society in which the weight of our physical appearance outweighs that of our inner world
While Grande and Boseman may be unfortunate examples of such a rigid dichotomy, it happens to those of us who haven’t quite made it to Tinseltown, too
It’s a tale as old as time for someone like myself, whose identity intersects in several ways with those marginalized groups. I’m a Black, gay, plus-sized man socialized in a country where my weight is always up for discussion despite the absence of my voice
Fat-shaming, comments about weight have lasting impact
I’ll never forget the gradual wave of humiliation that washed over me when I was around 18 years old at a family event, minding my business and finishing up a plate of food. Imagine my dismay when an attendee decided to publicly fat-shame me in front of the entire gathering by loudly calling me greedy and saying I was always eating
What they didn’t know is that moment, unfortunately, fundamentally changed my relationship with food in public settings, something I’m still healing from in therapy at 32. Those moments where people use shame – instead of genuine, emotional awareness around the conversation of physical health – typically have that effect on us
It’s one of the primary reasons why this conversation around Grande and her health must shift
None of us truly know exactly what is transpiring in her life, and it should be that way. If we’re going to take one of the most high-profile acts of this generation and subject her to a heinous inquisition solely because of the way her body has shifted, what does that say about us as a country? What does that teach the next generation of young people: that their bodily autonomy expires once someone else is concerned?
If we don’t course correct now, I’m afraid this will set a precedent for how young women, girls and anyone whose body has been treated as public property are continuously dissected in the media landscape under the guise of concern
Kenneth Williams Jr. is an entertainment journalist, cultural commentator and media consultant whose work focuses on the intersection of pop culture and modern media
