Piers Morgan won’t stand for any Ariana Grande hate.
“I’ve no idea what’s going on with @arianagrande, but I do know, after spending a random evening with her in a Beverly Hills restaurant a few years ago, that she’s a genuinely great person: intelligent, funny, engaging, and of course, supremely talented,” the English broadcaster, 61, wrote via Instagram on Tuesday, August 4.
“Fame at her pop superstar level can be a very difficult and lonely place,” Morgan continued. “So, I urge all the trolls currently making her life a misery with this constant chuntering about her appearance to back off and give her the space she needs to sort herself out.”
Alongside the caption, Morgan included a smiling selfie with Grande, 33, who held up a peace sign.
Morgan’s post came days after Grande announced her decision to take a break from the public eye following the end of her tour on September 1.
“Ariana will be taking a step back from visibility after she completes the Eternal Sunshine Tour,” a rep for the singer told People on Sunday, August 2. “She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily.”
Grande will close out her tour with 10 shows at the O2 Arena in London, beginning on August 15. The Wicked star’s spokesperson said she then plans to enjoy a “much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances.”
According to her rep, the decision to take a step back came amid “endless, ongoing public scrutiny” over Grande’s appearance. (After the singer dropped her “Petal” music video on Friday, July 31, social media users launched a discourse about her thin frame, with many expressing concern and alleging that she is privately battling an eating disorder.)
“This tour has been a beautiful experience for her,” the statement concluded. “She loves her fans and has loved every minute of this tour so much.”
Grande addressed the break herself during her Monday, August 3, tour stop in Chicago.
“Is it OK if we get a little real tonight?” she asked. “Sometimes when a story comes out that’s not directly from me, things can get a little blown out of proportion, so I just wanted to speak to my fans directly tonight, because I love you so much.”
Grande continued, “The announcement that was made yesterday was not a reactive or impulsive thing. It is something that I had decided, a plan I had quietly made a long time ago, and it’s a decision that was made from a thoughtful and empowered place.”
The “7 Rings” singer also addressed fans who were “worried that ‘negativity’ was ruining things for me,” insisting this is not true.
“I want you to know that many things can be true at the same time,” she said. “Boundaries can need to be set, human beings can need a break sometimes, and also, this can be and will continue to be the greatest experience of my professional career.”
Grande added, “No matter what noises exist out there, nothing will be able to distort my reality or be more real to me or not as real to me than this love that we share and how it feels to make art with people that I love and respect. Absolutely nothing will change that. This is what I will take with me and carry with me, because the rest of that s*** is not mine to carry.”
Grande called her tour the “most healing, beautiful, corrective, magnificent, special experience of my life.”
“That felt good,” she concluded. “I wish words were enough to articulate just how much I love you all. Now we can keep going.”
