Not a fan! Ariana Grande shared her thoughts on the TikTok trend of people impersonating her and her Victorious character, Cat Valentine.
The Grammy winner, 26, reposted a video on her Instagram Stories on Thursday, April 23, that showed actor and filmmaker Jordan Firstman doing an impression of meme creators who trivialize artists’ careers.
“Wait, I have an idea. What if we, like, we took a moment, like a small clip from a movie or a TV show, something that, like, an artist really poured their soul into and it, like, it just took them years to make and it was just an uphill battle the entire time. And when they finally got the financing, it was like they made it,” Firstman said sarcastically. “What if we took a moment from that and we kind of, like, recontextualized it — like, does that make sense? And we put a completely arbitrary meaning onto that thing that the artist loves so much? Kind of, like, degrading its entire value. I just think that could kind of be, like, a fun, bitchy thing to do.”
Grande apparently related to the video and captioned her since-deleted repost, “Omg can this please also double as your impression of the pony tail tik tok girls who think doing the cat valentine voice and that wearing winged eyeliner and a sweatshirt is doing a good impersonation of me … cause this really how it feels.”
Quoting Firstman, the pop star added, “‘Degrading it’s [sic] entire value’ i screamed.”
Countless TikTok users have made Grande-inspired videos in recent weeks, poking fun at her penchant for wearing oversize sweatshirts and her signature ponytail. One user in particular, Paige Niemann, went viral for her uncanny resemblance to the “Thank U, Next” singer.
“I just wonder whyyyy the cat voice / dialogue,” Grande tweeted in November 2019 in response to one of Niemann’s videos. “I am sure she is the sweetest sweet sweetheart forreal !! but it’s definitely bizarre seeing people blend the two worlds lmao.”
The former Nickelodeon star, who does not have a TikTok account, is no stranger to impersonations. Over the years, she has done spot-on spoofs of celebrities including Britney Spears, Rihanna, Shakira, Celine Dion, Judy Garland, Jennifer Lawrence and Evanescence frontwoman Amy Lee.
