Ariana Grande and Ricky Alvarez kissing in the donut shopscreenshot/youtube
"Problem" singer Ariana Grande seems to have landed herself in deep trouble after a video of her saying "I hate America" went viral. Although it raised more than a few eyebrows and distressed many fans, she has officially stated that her statements were taken out of context.
In the video, Grande is seen with rumoured boyfriend Ricky Alvarez and some friends at a donut shop, licking the cream off donuts when the shopkeepers are not looking. When a tray of freshly prepared donuts were placed on the counter, she asks, "What the f**k is that? I hate Americans. I hate America. That's disgusting".
Although her words seem too harsh, it is quite evident from the video that Grande was making a passing remark on the food culture in America and was not a making a decided statement about the country that made her famous. After the video went viral, she gave her official statement regarding the matter:
I am EXTREMELY proud to be an American and I've always made it clear that I love my country. What I said in a private moment with my friend, who was buying the donuts, was taken out of context and I am sorry for not using more discretion with my choice of words. As an advocate for healthy eating, food is very important to me and I sometimes get upset by how freely we as Americans eat and consume things without giving any thought to the consequences that it has on our health and society as a whole. The fact that the United States has one of the highest child obesity rate in the world frustrates me. We need to do more to educate ourselves and our children about the dangers of overeating and the poison that we put into our bodies. We need to demand more from our food industry. However I should have known better in how I expressed myself; and with my new responsibility to others as a public figure I will strive to be better. As for why I cannot be at the MLB show, I have had emergency oral surgery and due to recovery I cannot attend the show. I hope to make it up to all those fans soon. That being said let me once again apologise if I have offended anyone with my poor choice of words.
need to clean up this mouth of mine & set a better example for my babes. i apologize and i love you. always learning. pic.twitter.com/BkJWcLxR5y
She also addressed the issue of press being sexist, and how women are treated like arm candy, even when they make valuable contributions to the society. Fox News quoted her as saying, "I cannot wait to live in a world where people are not valued by who they are dating/married to/attached to/having sex with (or not)/seen with... but by their value as an individual."
