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Ariana Grande Apologizes After Getting Slammed For JonBenét Ramsey Joke
Grande’s comment on an Instagram post featuring the murdered child beauty queen sparked immense online criticism.
Ariana Grande has publicly apologized after facing backlash for a joke she made about JonBenét Ramsey, the 6-year-old pageant queen whose 1996 murder remains unsolved to this day.
In a post that has since been deleted, Doug Middlebrook, a friend of Grande’s, shared a photo of a tabloid cover featuring Ramsey and wrote in the caption, “no one has done more covers,” Buzzfeed reported.
“i can’t WAIT for this to be your Halloween look,” Grande then wrote in the comments, adding a black heart emoji.
Middlebrook responded, “working on it already.”
Before the brief exchange was wiped from Middlebrook’s Instagram, it was quickly captured via screenshots and spread across social media, resulting in backlash against Grande.
“Wait WHAT?? an 8-year-old girl who was violently killed, strangled and suffocated cannot be anyone's costume...,” one fan wrote, prompting a response from Grande early Monday.
“yeah no i deleted it very quickly and understand that it’s not at all funny. this was out of pocket and i sincerely apologize,” the 26-year-old singer said.
She called dark jokes like this one a “coping mechanism” in another tweet that has since been deleted, according to Buzzfeed.
“Love u. f*ck. i appreciate you. sorry i’m so fucked up. dark jokes are a coping mechanism for me and yet i hate when other people make them. thank y’all for being real & always helping me learn. i’m happy i have a fanbase who’s not afraid to call me out on my sh-t. love u,” it read.
While some have accepted Grande’s apology, others continue to criticize the singer online. One Twitter user questioned why Grande would make light of Ramsey's death when the tragic bombing that occurred at her 2017 Manchester performance took numerous young lives.
Ramsey, then a staple in the child beauty pageant scene, was found dead in her home in Boulder, Colorado, after her mother found what she claimed was a ransom note hours before. Her death was ruled a homicide, and the case has never been solved.
