It has been two years now since Ariana Grande last performed at the Manchester Arena. And this event has been forever etched to the community as 22 people died that night in a suicide attack after the show.
But, it has been announced already that Ariana Grande is coming back to perform at the Manchester Pride this summer. While the celebrated singer is expecting a warm welcome from the community, everyone is seemingly disappointed, especially a few individuals from the LGBTQ community, about her headlining spot on the said event.
According to her critics as per USA Today, Ariana Grande is a "straight-identifying" artist. And because of this, the singer's recently announced headlining spot in the upcoming event is quite questionable. "(I don't know), Ariana headlining the pride when she's straight(?)" a critic tweeted after the announcement.
There were also reports that fans are quite dismayed when the tickets on the event are doubled in comparison to the previous price of the Pride celebration in the city. As it happens, the tickets are now being sold at £71 which is far too high in comparison to last year's £30. Accordingly, the critics also suggested that this is a kind of "exploitation of the LGBTQ community."
Aside from these critics, there were other Pride annual attendees who voiced out their concerns as well after the announcement was made publicly. According to them, having Ariana Grande on stage might attract "homophobic opportunists" just to see the star perform on the event. And certainly, they don't want that.
And with all these detractors at hand, it caught Ariana Grande's attention and made a response to the said backlash. According to the 25-year-old artist, she wanted to comment after seeing "many people" discussing the issue. Also, the BBC added that Ariana wants to chime in if that's quite okay with them.
In her response, Ariana mentioned that she has nothing to do with the increase in the ticket prices. "Manchester sets these rates," and it's out of her control. She also added how much the LGBTQ community means to her and how they made her happy throughout her entire career.
Additionally, the artist also pointed out that regardless of her identity, she wants to "celebrate and support the community." She even explained that Performers of all gender orientations had also headlined pride events in the past, which includes the "straight allies" like Cher and Kylie Minogue.
All in all, Ariana Grande is just excited and grateful for being chosen to headline the upcoming Manchester Pride. And if the crowd thinks that she does not deserve it, "I respect that," the artist concluded.
