The glitz and glamour of the Palm Springs Film Festival got an extra edge when Ariana Grande marked her presence. Wearing a silver metallic ballgown with a bubble-shaped skirt Ariana Grande stole the show. However, her look alone was not the highlight of the night. It was Ariana’s speech that caught everyone’s attention.
As the singer-actress graced the stage to accept the Rising Star Award, in her gratitude speech she said, “Thank you guys so much, you don’t know how much it means to me.” She then continued, “I’ve been performing since I was a child, so I never thought at the age of 31 I would be hearing the words ‘rising star’ again, so I wanted to start by thanking my two friends: Botox and Juvederm.”
Her words made everyone laugh out loud. “I thought I’d be hearing ‘slightly withering star’ or ‘drooping star’ by now, so thank you,” she said in her speech.
Though Ariana was just being funny, cheeky, and candid while accepting the award, her words didn’t sit down well with netizens. Several criticized her remark and labeled them tone-deaf as well as ageist.
One commenter wrote, “She lacks professionalism, and she’s only 31 — like how awkward for all the older women in the crowd. She hides her prejudice under the guise of a sense of humor.”
“She literally posed with Nicole Kidman who is twice her age… so for her to make an ageist comment about herself is 👀,” commented another.
Further, there is another fraction who simply took her words as a humble brag disguised as a joke.
Meanwhile, in her speech, Ariana shared a thank you note for her ‘Wicked’ director Jon M. Chu. She called her “fearless leader,” and for her co-star Cynthia Erivo, she used the term “brilliant sister.”
“Being able to play Glinda the Good was not only the honour of my life, but it felt like a homecoming. For those of you who don’t know, I started out in stand-up comedy. My first professional gig was in our living room in Boca Raton, Fla., [entertaining] my grandparents. I was 4 years old and my mom gave me $5. I learned early on that laughter was one of our greatest escapes. And the past 10 years when I was really focused on music, I really missed that feeling. So it really does feel like the beginning of a new chapter,” she added.
