Ariana Grande‘s controversial comments about who she would want to have dinner with have earned strong reactions, particularly from some people whose feelings Grande should’ve taken into account.
Grande hopped on the podcast Podcrushed for a lengthy interview about her career. At one point, she noted, “I was infatuated with serial killers when I was younger.”
She then hesitated to tell a particular story, seemingly thinking better of it, only to tell it nonetheless. She explained that around the time she was on Sam &Cat on Nickelodeon, she was giving a Q&A and a kid asked her, “If you could have dinner with anyone living or dead who would it be?”
Ariana seemingly knew her answer could be an issue, so instead of pivoting to another answer, she asked the parents if it was OK to answer honestly. Of course, they were somewhat unsure what she meant, but they agreed. Ariana Grande answered by saying, “Jeffrey Dahmer.”
Dahmer, who was the subject of a controversial Netflix show, is famous for murdering 17 males and dismembering them to then commit cannibalism.
That’s right — Grande didn’t choose family who may have passed, or any religious figure, or any historical figure, or even a musical artist, which would make sense for her. She straight up wanted to dine with a cannibal serial killer. She probably should’ve listened to her instincts, which were clearly telling her not to tell the story.
On the podcast, there wasn’t too much said in regards to her answer. Grande added that she finds Dahmer fascinating, to which one of the hosts replied, “Wow!” while the others laughed, perhaps nervously.
Grande added, “I would have loved to have met him, like you know, maybe with a third party. I have questions.”
Shirley Hughes, the mother of Tony Hughes — a deaf man whom Dahmer took advantage of and killed in 1991 — responded publicly.
She told TMZ about Grande, “To me, she seems like she’s sick in her mind.”
She didn’t stop there, noting, “It’s not fancy or funny to say you would have wanted to do dinner with him. It’s also not something you should say to young people.”
Ariana’s fans have mostly defended the pop star, while others agree with that Grande was, in the least, insensitive in her storytelling.
Barbara Hughes-Holt, Tony’s sister, believes that Ariana Grande is glamorizing Dahmer, and thinks Grande should apologize. Furthermore, Shirley Hughes pointed out that Grande didn’t show any empathy whatsoever for the victims.
Whether or not Grande decides to apologize remains to be seen, but ignoring the comments from the Hughes family altogether could be a mistake for the singer. The best thing she can do is reach out to them personally, and heed her instincts in the future.