In Her New Collaboration with Charli XCX, Ariana Grande Addresses Criticism of Her Appearance as ‘Fake.’
Ariana Grande is laying out how speculations about her character and appearance can be painful on the remix of Charli xcx’s “Sympathy is a Knife.”
A standout track from the British pop star’s latest album Brat, “Sympathy is a Knife” finds Charli unpacking her insecurities and its impact on her mental health. The remixed version arrived Oct. 11, and Grande, 31, joined in sharing her experience in the public eye.
The Wicked star sings: “It’s a knife when you know they’re counting on your mistakes / It’s a knife when you’re so pretty, they think it must be fake / It’s a knife when they dissect your body on the front page / It’s a knife when they won’t believe you, why should you explain?”
On a recent episode of Vanity Fair‘s Lie Detector Test series, Grande confirmed she has gotten certain cosmetic procedures in the past, but some of the rumors are untrue.
“I’ve had fillers in various places and Botox, but I stopped like four years ago, and that is the extent,” she said. “But [I’m] also in full support of all people who do these things, work, whatever makes women, men, non-gender conforming people feel beautiful should be allowed. Why do we care?”
In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Charli, 32, explained why she chose Grande for the song. “From where I was to now, I’m definitely finding more than ever that my words are being picked apart, taken out of context. I offend a lot more people by doing exactly the same things,” she said.
The “Guess” performer added, “I had heard that Ari wanted to do something and I was like, this is somebody who definitely knows this feeling more so than me.”
Like Grande, Lorde got vulnerable on her remix of Charli’s “Girl, So Confusing.” The two singers revealed they had a complicated relationship, partly due to physical comparisons and insecurities. On the remix, Lorde sang that she was “trapped in the hatred” and revealed she was dealing with body image issues.
Elsewhere in the Zane Lowe interview ahead of the remix album’s release, Charli said she did not give Lorde an ample warning when the original “Girl, So Confusing” came out, and the 27-year-old New Zealand-born singer found out when Brat came out, eventually proposing they “work it out on the remix.”
Charli and Grande’s “Sympathy Is a Knife” remix appears on the album Brat and it’s completely different but still brat, which dropped Oct. 11.
