One last send-off? Fans are convinced that Ariana Grande’s new song, “Positions,” is about her romance with boyfriend Dalton Gomez — but they also think she throws shade at ex-fiancé Pete Davidson using some clever wordplay.
At the beginning of the track, which dropped on Friday, October 23, the pop star, 27, sings, “Heaven sent you to me / I’m just hoping’ I don’t repeat history.” While the lyrics seem innocent enough, several social media users pointed out that Grande separates the “re” from the “peat,” putting emphasis on the latter, which sounds like the Saturday Night Live star’s first name.
“Ariana did not just split repeat to sound like re-PETE hahahah so smart,” one fan tweeted. Another called the double entendre “kinda iconic,” while a third Twitter user playfully dubbed Grande a “SHADY BITCH.”
Us Weekly confirmed in May 2018 that the Grammy winner and Davidson, now 26, were dating after their two-year relationships with Mac Miller and Cazzie David, respectively, ended. Multiple sources exclusively told Us just one month later that the couple were engaged.
After Miller died at the age of 26 that September, a source close to Davidson told Us that the loss “put a tremendous amount of strain” on the stand-up comedian’s relationship with Grande. She called off their four-month engagement in October 2018.
The Victorious alum gave shout-outs to the late rapper, Davidson and two other exes, Big Sean and Ricky Alvarez, in her breakup anthem “Thank U, Next,” and her 2019 album of the same name included songs about both Miller and the King of Staten Island star.
Davidson went on to have short-lived romances with actresses Kate Beckinsale, Margaret Qualley and Kaia Gerber, while Grande moved on with real estate agent Gomez earlier this year.
“Ariana sees something different in Dalton that she has never seen before in guys she has previously dated,” a source exclusively told Us in August, noting that the couple have “fallen madly in love.”
Grande’s sixth studio album, Positions, is out Friday, October 30.
