If all you can hear people talk about today is Ariana Grande and her new album Thank U, Next, the only advice we can give you is to get used to it. The 25-year-old pop star is back after just about six months with her follow-up to Sweetener, and fans feel truly blessed with all Ari is giving us.
And with the album release, Ariana also dropped a music video for the song "Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored," which has people expectedly very chatty. The video shows Ariana in a love triangle between Riverdale's Charles Melton and model Ariel Yasmine, who happens to be dressed and styled identically to the singer.
Tons of fans flocked to social media to share how much they loved the video, however many also took to the platform to call out Ariana for queerbaiting. This is basically when a straight person uses a same-sex relationship to get attention from the LGBTQ community, but not actually going through with it. With the "Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" video, Ariana ultimately ditches the guy and leans in to kiss the girlfriend. People are taking issue with this, because it seems to some she's only doing it to be "fun" or "cool," not because she's a lesbian.
actually ariana’s new video was kinda uncomfortable to watch, two girls almost kissing in front of a guy is not just fetishizing but also queerbaiting and it’s disgusting considering ariana was somehow nominated for some lgbt awards
— what would lana do (@brandybkills) February 8, 2019
However, many fans are actually finding the meaning of the song to be that she decides to love herself, instead of the boy. Ariel's character looking just like Ariana might mean that she's actually is another version of herself. But nevertheless, people don't think it was necessary for the pop star to actually go in for the kiss.
if ariana grande was trying to promote self-love with that song, then she should’ve gone about it in a way that wasn’t queerbaiting. as a straight woman, ariana wouldn’t suffer consequences of kissing women that queer women are discriminated against. she used wlw as an aesthetic.
— ???????⁶ (@toduvuki) February 8, 2019
And some are now seeing Ariana as a bit problematic, as she was just accused of cultural appropriation and using AAVE for her song "7 Rings."
how did ariana get so annoying in the span of few WEEKS. cultural appropriation and queerbaiting? sit down please
— ???? (@veIvetpjm) February 8, 2019
We still love Ariana and Thank U, Next, but she should definitely be more aware of what she's putting out into the world. Some people might be offended and she doesn't even realize.