BRAND NEW UPDATE (08/29/2014) – ONE WEEK AFTER THE ARIANA GRANDE INCIDENT.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE RESPONSE FROM MS. GRANDE AND HER REPRESENTATIVES?
THE ORIGINAL POST, THAT SOMEHOW BECAME A NEWS ITEM, IS RIGHT BELOW THIS ONE.
How has Ariana Grande responded to the disappointed MTV contest winners?
That is the question I have received most over the past week. There have been a lot of questions, and I’ll try to answer them all here at once. This has actually become too big to even handle by a family without the power of a public relations army working for them.
I never imagined that our little blog post would be read by hundreds of thousands of people, in almost 200 countries, but somehow, it has. Many of these people have asked if Ms. Grande has reached out to the fans she walked out on one week ago. These are the most popular questions:
“Has she invited everyone to re-do the meeting?”
“Has she mailed the explanation letter she talked about writing?”
“Has she tweeted any of the fans who were there?”
“Has she called anyone on the phone?”
We have waited a week to answer these questions, as we didn’t want to rush into anything, and my daughters had faith that she would maybe just make a two minute phone call, so they could all explain their side, get past the whole thing, and the girls could concentrate on buying and enjoying her new album.
Our family has been bombarded with interview requests all week – and up to this point have granted NONE. We had no desire to make this a bigger issue. Those few who have labeled us as “fame hungry” may not realize that we wrote a post, out of frustration, on a blog that used to get maybe 3 hits a day. We didn’t follow up until now, and we didn’t sell any interview to anyone. We just wanted to speak out for fans everywhere – even those who now hate and harass us. Treating contest winners as an annoyance is not really cool. This was not a case of interrupting a celebrity on the street, or in a restaurant, and it was not a large scale meet and greet of hundreds of people. It was three contest winners, with one guest each. That’s it.
Ariana has tweeted that she was saddened by the contest-winning artwork that featured a drawing of her and her departed grandfather. We do not dispute the fact that she may well have been so affected, but this is important to note, please:
EVERYTHING in the original blog post occurred BEFORE she saw the artwork that featured her and Mr. Grande.
EVERYTHING.
The “only a selfie allowed” warning.
The confiscation of any gifts intended for her, including one fan’s contest-winning CD of violin versions of Ariana songs. That young man poured his heart into that, and traveled across the country to hand it to her.
The lack of banter with anyone – not even asking their names, or if they were the contest winners (as opposed to the guests).
The ordering of security to be sure all non-selfies were DELETED.
Heading off to leave after spending just seconds with each winner.
ALL OF THIS OCCURRED BEFORE ANY ARTWORK WAS PRESENTED TO ARIANA GRANDE.
She was already walking away from her fans when my daughter Jen mustered up the courage to approach her with the artwork. Jen and her sister Kelly had recently lost their own grandpa, and their intention was to tell Ariana that they loved her and that they felt her pain because they knew what she was going through. They wanted to say “We feel you as a person right now, not as a superstar, because we know the pain in your heart.”
They assumed Ms. Grande was aware of the artwork because it won the contest for Jen, and, as with the other young man’s violin CD, it came from a place of love. Jen wanted to give Ari the originals to keep.
The other piece of artwork featured Ariana and Iggy Azalea, and it was this drawing that Ariana was looking at when she ordered all pictures deleted. She had not seen the grandpa drawing yet. When she did see the grandpa drawing, she walked out. Remember, she had been on the way out already, before Jen walked up to her with the artwork. She had taken the fan selfies and was on the way out.
We believe that Ariana was affected in some way by seeing the artwork, we are not challenging that. It’s just that nobody knew it at the time, and it doesn’t really explain everything that went on before it. The fans were treated horribly before that final few seconds.
So, to answer the above questions, there has been no contact at all from Ms. Grande to the fans in the week that followed.
We received a midweek phone call from Mr. Joseph Carozza, vice president of Ariana’s Republic record label. The girls looked at me as if to say “We knew Ari would make this right.”
Here was the sum total of the phone call: Mr. Carozza asked me to update the blog by writing that we now understood why Ariana acted as she did – because of her being in mourning.
When I asked him why I should do that considering that everything noted in the blog occurred BEFORE she saw the drawing, he responded that this post had become a legitimate news story and that it was Ariana’s album release week, and the story was making her uncomfortable.
I told him that I was sorry for all that, but that my girls had been affected too – as they were receiving death threats.
He reiterated the notion that Ariana had wanted to contact the girls after she had walked out on them, but that MTV had no way to deliver the “letter” she talked about.
I reminded him that MTV knew exactly where the contest winners were staying for all three nights – as they had placed them in that hotel. They also had everyone’s phone number (that’s how Mr. Carozza got it to call us in the first place), home address, email address, and quite literally – their picture IDs and social security numbers.
Perhaps the Ariana letter could have been sent over to the hotel when MTV had the VMA passes driven there two days after the meet and greet?
I suggested that maybe Ms. Grande could phone the contest winners personally, for two minutes, just to have each side make nice, put it all behind them, and I could update this blog with a happy ending saying how Ariana reached out and acted like a true star. I could then write that the girls were excited to buy the new album.
He refused.
We still waited several more days, in the hope that, within all of her promotional fan interactions, she might still call, tweet, or send a note to the original winners, as part of her weeklong album release fan experience.
Didn’t happen.
I called Mr. Carozza as a final reaching-out gesture to see if any contact might happen soon, before writing this follow up.
No, it will not.
There is a happy ending to this, though. The happiness is not with the spurned contest winners, but with the fans who have met Ariana Grande since this blog became news. She has gone out of her way to meet many fans, with cameras rolling, surprising them at America’s Got Talent and the Today Show. Giving them VIP passes – on national television, singing happy birthday to one, hugging them all, taking Vines with them, doing repeated live chats, and telephone Q&A sessions. She also has tweeted several of them personally, and posted repeated tweets about how she loves all of her fans.
The ones who earned a meeting with her through difficult contest entries, and follow up phone interviews, have received none of that.
They have been forgotten by Ariana Grande and her huge publicity machine.
They have no voice in this world except for this tiny blog page. I’ve been asked why I wrote it to begin with – well, Ms. Grande is famous for (rightfully) defending her family when they have been wronged. I chose to do that for my daughters, and the other contest winners. It’s that simple.
But the happy ending is that, at least for now, some fans are being treated as actual human beings.
That was the point from day one.
For the few who call our family “liars” regarding all of this, I put this offer out there: Every one of us will take a public polygraph exam if Ms. Grande will agree to do the same.
Every word I have written has been the absolute truth.
We don’t have a corporate spin machine to twist the story, we don’t have the power to tell magazines and websites that we will refuse future interviews with them if they don’t slant the story our way, and we don’t have millions of fans who believe everything we say.
We just know that if we tell the true story, there will be no guilt in our hearts.
Say “Hi” – of course we’ll follow back on Twitter:
JEN: @HerNamesJen
KEL: @KellyyPatricia
DAN (DAD): @DanOVegas
JO (MOM): @JoanneOVegas
CANNI primal screaming 
You’re leaving an impression on your daughters that will be forever lasting – their family will defend them, what is right, their dreams and their passions. That will mean more to them than any fake “superstar” or someone they look up to, whether they realize it now or not… because they will go on to defend others and the truth as you have done for them. Well done. Her fame will be gone one day, but your daughters will never forget how you stood up for them with this. x
Thank you. That struck a chord. Be well.
And you! I know I’ll be visiting regularly now 🙂
i almost cried when i read the story. could only imagine the pain they must be feeling, and death threats too????? i hope they feel better soon though and a toast to you for standing up for your girls and for what’s right…
Thank you Ms. Torres. Much appreciated! Don’t cry – as there are much worse things to worry about. It’s just hard for young ladies to be treated so poorly by their (former) idol. It was more of a shock than anything else.
You are an amazing father. She has become one of the many young stars touched by fame and has no idea how to handle this fame. It is understandable, however, still so very sad that money trumps decency and money will let the producers, managers, etc turn the other cheek and obviously ignore and not care about a young girl. All they want is the money at the expense of a girl who is being swallowed up by fame. Good for you to stand up for what is right!
This made me teary. Excellent reply, MK! True, what the daughters have learned from their parents from this experience far outweighs what they can get from a “superstar”.
It’s really great to see a parent support the crazy things teenage daughters love.
I won an MTV VMA contest once. They sent half the promised prize and no more. I wrote letters and made phone calls trying to get the rest of what they promised. But I got no response because I was just a “nobody”. MTV is so unprofessional.
You are far from a nobody. Only in their corporate eyes. My girls were treated the same way. Ms. Grande and her team thought there was no way we could ever be heard among their powerful machine. I was ignored when I contacted all involved BEFORE we wrote the blog. I just wanted something as simple as a tweet to my girls. They couldn’t be bothered. So, somehow – maybe through karma or something – the entire world now knows and can judge for themselves. Seems she is treating fans much better already. I hope it lasts past her album launch.
Wow people are actually quite pathetic. I know there’s Ariana fans who would Kill to see her but sending death threats to a 17(?) year old girl is quite pathetic knowing that Ariana was a complete asshole to them and that she was wrong. I mean if I was a huge Ariana fan and she did that to me I’d unfollow her on twitter and think a lot less of her but to those huge ‘no life’ Ariana fans, 5 seconds w her would be amazing which is kind of sad and desperate tbh. And if people really think this is fake then theyre legitimately stupid, I wouldn’t type 2 very long blogs (w MANY pictures) just because I don’t like Ariana but thats just me. It just makes me kind of sad that the 2014 Rude Snobby Bossy girl who treats her fans like actual garbage who probably pretends to be “buddy buddy” w her fans now because of this blog. isn’t the 2011 sweet Ariana who //volunteered// for a photo and actually posed as if Jen was her friend. Even if Ariana was like “oh I was having an off day” i’d still call bullshit to that because if you’re able to smile for a 5 second selfie you can at least pretend to care to YOUR contest winners. Her reason for being a total douchebag to her contest winners is because she simply doesn’t care and is a snob.
Are you done yet?
grow up.
Still got them rose colored glasses on, huh?
Done writing what he wants, on his own blog? Why should he be?
I appreciate that you feel a connection to the artist, but the truth is that you don’t know her. You don’t, in reality, know anything about her, or this situation. That being so, don’t you think your hostility is misplaced? She has loudly voiced her side, with a very clear motivation. This father has only one motivation – speaking the truth when his child was illtreated.
I’m sorry to say it, and she certainly won’t be the only one fame has corrupted, but Ariana Grande just sounds like a spoiled little girl, by now. And though it’s great that you like her music, defending the indefensible isn’t really making her look any better.
I hope your daughters are okay! It’s really sad knowing that not all superstars are who they appear to be in front of all the cameras and all! Cheers!
Your story makes me sad to just imagine how it must have been for your duaghters and the others to have had a bad experience with meeting Ariana. I don’t wanna belive its real but i know it’s most likely true. I’m starting to look at Ariana in a diffrent way now I just cant belive her right now, but your a great father and a great person for not being afraid of speaking out about it and being honest . I hope the death threats stop and your family can have some peace . God bless ya’ll (:
I hope that your daughters DO end up getting something decent in return as a result of this incident. It would only be the DECENT thing to do. If your daughters don’t end up getting some sort of retribution then at least take comfort in knowing that light has been exposed as to how Ms. Grande and her staff/MTV treat very deserving and loyal fans. Not very often people can get others to follow them to the edge of the Earth and back. While I do not wish these people ill, I do hope that many more people will see this story. Maybe it’ll deflate these people’s egos a little. Best of luck to you!
I’d like to thank you, sir, for shedding light on this event.
Ariana Grande owes everything to her fans, in fact most celebrities do. Her success as a singer and actress would be limited if it wasn’t for the overwhelming support she receives from her fans who promote, love and assist her in all ways possible. For this reason it is absolutely DISGUSTING that she treats them like this when the camera is not rolling.
I’d like to point out that this isn’t the first time Ariana has turned the cold shoulder to her fans too, it’s happened four times that I’m aware of. In fact, she had a diva tantrum according to this news article posted 2 days ago as well: http://www.celebuzz.com/2014-08-28/ariana-grande-diva-behavior/?utm_source=sc-tw&utm_medium=ref&utm_campaign=agrande
I guess this is a reminder to everyone that your soul will eventually shine out for people to see the real you. Though she can hide behind fakes smiles and constant, “ily” tweets, a fake persona can only be kept for so long.
There are some other concerns I’d like to raise with you as well. The day after Ariana’s grandfather’s death she went on a news show, with a fake smile on, twirling her hair as she performed her single. If she could manage a whole spectacle she could have spent 2 minutes with your children, ESPECIALLY, if this pictures was presented AFTER everything had happened.
Thank you for being brave and sharing this. Thank you for not making a whole, “everything turned out happy” post like asked of you, thank you for getting the truth out there.
Because of your posts she has now arranged all these spontaneous meet and greets and is going out of her way to treat her fans nicely. Stay strong.
Hi primalscreaming! I just wanted to let you and your daughters know that this isn’t the first time that this sort of thing has happened. I have a friend whose high school choir got to see Ariana record one of her music videos. When there, a worker there offered all the kids water when Ariana quite rudely asked why he would do that at all and that he should be giving her water, not them. Loss of a loved one can excuse some behaviors, but to reprimand a worker for giving some high school kids water? That’s unacceptable.
yes it is…….. looks really can be deceiving 😦 i’m a fan of Ari too….
I live in Europe and don’t know anything abt Ms. Grande, but I think that it may would have been good to do interviews, not do bad-mouth her, not at all, but to complete the picture. But on the other hand idk how wide your blog post was spread and got into news, so…
Overall I think you did an amazing job protecting your family!!! Kudos to you!!!! 🙂
Well, you’re a great dad for making such a small thing turn into a whole debacle for your daughters. Oh, sense the sarcasm. So, aren’t artists allowed to have bad days? I’m sure you have yours. It’s your fault why they’re getting death threats, FYI.
Did you read your own stupidity before you posted it online for everyone to see? Hmm and what’s Ariana doing to calm this situation down? Did she tell her fans to stop the threats?….no? Oh, that’s what I thought, nothing
Oh look another 14 year old who thinks the world is split between liars and perfect celebrities. I’m assuming your reply was written before you read the other blog post detailing what happened. You precious celeb had DAYS in LA to make it right.
As far as the death threat logic goes, be very careful. You’re victim bashing- “it’s your fault you’re getting death threats for talking about all this”. “it’s your fault for getting raped in those clothes” Sound familiar?
Sit down and shut up.
The only people to blame for death threats are those making them. Nobody else. Those people are clearly either 12, or deranged, and very probably both. I am hoping you are very young yourself, because victim blaming like that is dreadful. As a parent, I can tell you that I would be so ashamed if one of my kids ever came out with the line you just did. Disgusting thing to say to someone, to be blunt, and yes, worse than what Ariana Grande did and said.
It wasn’t “such a small thing”. A huge amount of effort went into the contest, and her behaviour to the winners was terrible. Shocking. And no, artists aren’t allowed to have bad days on prearranged meet and greets with people. That’s part of being a professional. It was her job to be pleasant. No more, certainly – but definitely pleasant, in that context.
Ariana Grande is killing her own career with this behaviour.
Wow kudos to you for updating this blog with the ACTUAL truth and not what Ariana’s “powerful” vice-president wanted you to say. I’ve always liked Ariana for her voice but her personality has never been believable to me and this confirms it. It’s a shame that she hasn’t tried to reach out personally to you. If this had happened 3 years, when she was just starting out, I bet she would without a doubt contact you guys.
You definitely did the right thing by letting everyone know what happens when the cameras stop rolling. Too many people believe that celebs are exactly the way they are on camera, and that is NOT true. Your daughters and the other contest winner should be compensated for the way they were treated by Ariana and MTV, but it’s satisfying knowing that the truth is out and it’s being recognized. Hopefully this means this won’t happen to another fan.
This is really disappointing to hear, and i’m sorry the contest winners had to deal with that. Ariana seems really nice, but how someone seems on camera and how someone actually is, is definitely two different things. I really hope she makes this right…but I really doubt she will.
Thank you for speaking up and not letting the respect you and your family deserve as human beings be spat on and walked upon by crews and artists who have forgotten what decency looks like. I thank you for having that courage – knowing how easily fans blow up when they see stuff like that.
She didn’t do Twitter interviews/start meeting to make up for your pathetic attention seeking story, FRIENDLY REMINDER HER ALBUM CAME OUT LAST MONDAY AND THIS IS HER PRESS WEEK HELLO? It was planned long before you thing happened, the first time I met Ariana was during her press week for Yours Truly last year, she always does that, if you think somehow you’re the cause of it, news flash, no you are not & no she doesn’t care, and no she doesn’t owe you anything considering you won a contest, YOU WON A CONTEST! I met Ariana while she was in NYC the day after her Grandpa passed & she took us to her garage for a private M&G just like she did this week, she’s always done it, & she’s always greeted her fans, some of us even went into her car.
You think you deserve a personal phone call from Ariana Grande because your contest expectations weren’t fulfilled? Excuse me? I’d understand if it was a 300$ concert m&g but you drove from Vegas to freaking Los Angeles & you want us to cry a river for you because you upsetted her with a picture & didn’t like the way she reacted?
“We didn’t want it to be a bigger story’ why would you get Perez Hilton’s attention then? And freaking Imogen Heap? That’s thirsty man.
Your story makes no sense & doesn’t even add up to the other winners’ experiences… Get over it man. I’d seriously be so ashamed that my own dad would talk something like this so serious.
Did you not read? LOL They gave her the picture after her horrible attitude towards them. Besides there is no excuse for her attitude. I mean if we have to go to our jobs and work everyday and act professional despite having extremely sad moments in our life then why should she have the excuse that she “has a bad day”. Yes everyone has a bad day but even through bad days some people still act professional no matter what, not all but some and if they can then why can`t she?
Wow so you met Ariana and you had a good experience in the time spand of 2013-2014. And she seemed like a decent person? See that just confuses me its like mixed reviews when it comes to diffrent peoples experiences about meeting her. I just think I would have to meet her myself and see how it goes i guess cuase otherwise i don’t know if shes a decent person or not and half of me dosent care !
Oh look I found an example of “5 Seconds with Ariana would be the best day of their life” person. Thanks for proving my point in my comment 2 days ago!
Oh and FYI she probably did so she can have a good light to her fans and pathetic life long followers (like you) And I’m pretty sure you’re lying about Ariana taking you to her garage or whatever lol. And to be honest they do deserve a phone call because they won a contest and weren’t fulfilled, Simple as that. And if other winners get such an experience shouldn’t they?
You are a soul-less idiot who will wither into ugliness long before you’re old and just a house full of in-breeding cats to keep you company.
Stfu bitch. Dont be such a blind bat
Not going to lie, these posts struck such anger in me.
I, too, have been such a huge fan of Ariana Grande back when she began in Victorious and have bought her two CDs for Yours Truly and My Everything. When word had gone around about her feud with Victoria Justice, I was on Ariana’s side from the beginning because it made sense to me that the main character of the show (who probably also made the most money in my opinion) would want a solo tour, rather than a group tour causing the cancelation of the show. Evidently, the Jennette McCurdy incident, I was still on Ariana Grande’s side from the beginning, but mostly because I felt that Ms. McCurdy could have handled her feelings towards Ariana a little more professionally.
However, after reading your post, my ideal of Ariana Grande as being a classy and innocent woman have demolished completely. Her actions towards you are not only disrespectful, but completely out of line and the fact that she hasn’t reached out to contact you for her attitude is selfish of her. I will still probably buy her next album, but only because I love the sound of her voice when she does R&B. However, as for her personally, she has just become one of the celebrities that has let fame go to her head in my books. Thank you for sharing your story to make me realize these things.
Mr. PrimalScreaming,
You, sir, are an attention whore. Shame on you, for letting your daughters hang their self-worth on the amount of attention they can get from a random pretty-faced girl who, by luck of time and location, happens to be one of the current vehicles for the entertainment industry’s celebrity-making, money-making machine. And for allowing and encouraging them to build up such an inherently hollow event into something like a post-traumatic-stress-inducing nightmare. Unless this little stunt is somehow helping to fund their future college tuition, you do a grave disservice to your daughters.
Niceness: <9000
How is he an Attention whore, he’s sticking up for his daughters like a good father should, I see 0 reason as to why he would make this up, Ariana even made a tweet defending herself about it implying its real. He’s basically noting everyone Ariana isn’t as sweet as she seems. He even explained how he isn’t/wasn’t seeking attention so like.
..yall remember when she out right basically bullied Victoria justice and made everyone seem like it was vice versa? she used her CHARACTER cat’s personality to manipulate her dumb ass fans. knowing humans we love to believe that the actual person acts like their characters in movies, tv shows etc. that’s why people give the nicest and most talented girl in Hollywood aka Victoria dawn justice so much shit they TRULY believe she acts like her character tori vega. how stupid can someone be to believe such bull is beyond me glad im not an idiot who gets easily manipulated hope this brat gets everything that comes her way. also hope Victoria justice blows up AGAIN and gets way more famous than her. she deserves it the most more than anyone from Disney or nick or whatever
this doesn’t surprise me at all.I watched MTV awards and the today show and many you tube videos and saw the same thing a little rude coming out of her and on the today show answered questions pretty much the same.I do belive you and belive that just like many child actors she has gotten used to getting things her way and being waited on hand and foot so as a result its gone to her head!yes we fans support the singers,actors,etc and without us they wouldn’t make much money and I have found the only way to send them a clear message that you don’t treat your fans like trash is to boycott the person.boycott Ariana by not buying her cd,DVDs,merchandise nothing.the more fans that stop buying her stuff will send a clear message as to where that money comes from.its happened to other stars and they got a clear message to shape up or ship out.I for one will not buy anything to do with Ariana grande and I hope others will do the same then she will get put on her place.its time that stars like her get the message that the fans are who support them and without the fans they fade away!if you watch her closely you can see her attitude coming out and she acts as though she is bored.im really tired of these kids acting as though they are entitled once they get well known.well I think its time to rip that diaper off and give them a good spanking.also I find it interesting that Ariana’s briother Frankie is on big brother while her album just came out!
I cannot manage to say anything else but how utterly , utterly sorry I am. Really , it is such a calamity. Truly it’s sickening to see that people would give innocents death threats. In Ariana’s possession is a growing fame in the people who support Ari on this is a growing greed. They are interweaved in their own world where they want something. I’m wishing there were more Conceders , such as ourselves. I really can’t say I am the miss amazing Grande’s fan anymore. So disappointing I hope she is set straight. It is hard to express how infuriating and sad this is to hear. I feel it all for you and your girls. My Grandpa has cancer with no cure , I get it 😉 and I am sorry a snotty celeb had to make things worse. Sorry Ari ^.^ I’m a hater!!!! Also I know you by all means did not want to bring hate on her , I just cannot help feeling this way. Ugh let her live her fab dream life , but things will be right eventually.
You know, this is really unsettling. After watching Jennette McCurdy’s web series that took a bit of a stab at Ariana I became worried that she may be a different person than we are led to believe. This proves it. I’ve met a few celebrities (Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus when Hannah Montana had just started, Fall Out Boy…) and all have been nothing but nice. I met Taylor Swift at a big time for her and I could tell the fame hadn’t gotten to her head. I had hand dyed and glittered a shirt with her lyrics on it and when she saw it she gasped and went, “Oh my gosh, I love your shirt! I love all the sparkles!” And that was just a shirt. Your daughter spent so much time on her art and this is what she gets? Some people shouldn’t be famous. Best wishes to you all.
Honestly , though not a PENNY will be going to her anymore. It’s sad I already bought four of her songs. If I like anymore I’m just a listening to them on Youtube. Ariana you suck she did not have an ” off day ” you never treat someone like that and this is how she treats someone a FAN … on a normal basis. I don’t care what any of her fans say because what you wrote is the 100% truth!
This kind of thing just happens, even if you’re a contest winner or a paying customer for a VIP meet and greet. Over my years, I’ve been to so many meet and greets, purchased many VIP tickets and have won access to meet artists/celebs and many of them have zero control of how you meet them. It’s all handled by a team. Some are really organized and a fun experience and some are a mess. I purchased a meet and greet pass for Nicki Minaj back in summer 2012, tons of fans had brought gifts to give her, vinyls/big merchandise to sign and other items and it was all required to be left on a table before you even got into the room before meeting Nicki. That’s not uncommon. Sure it sucks for young fans who want to give their idol a gift or something, but really if they are just standing around for a meet and greet opp, who’s gonna handle all the random crap they’re given by fans? All the fans who had brought CDs and records to have autographed were told no (even thought we paid to meet her) and we only could get this cheap tour lanyard signed. The meet and greet was 15 seconds tops, her security was incredibly rude (they ripped my arm off of Nicki when I put it around her for the picture) and then we were off back to our seats. I bitched about it to my friends and co-workers for couple days, then I got over it. I didn’t blame Nicki, she just had a bad tour management team handling her meet and greets. I didn’t feel like I was entitled to anything else. Ariana doesn’t have time make right what you felt you were deprived of. It’s just a sucky experience, this contest (which she was probably forced to agree to) took place on a hectic day for her, and I just think you’re trying to keep milking a free contest you won. Be grateful. I wouldn’t have taken this online, especially since you’re not caring for the negative attention it’s brought to your fam. And if your kids are receiving death threats, the last thing I would do is keep hammering on about this. People are mean and say mean things, especially when it comes to the ridiculous “stan wars” that fanbases do with each other on social media, complaining and expecting more is fueling the fire for these kinds of people.
Anyways, this incident may be “traumatic” and devastating to your kids, I’m sure I’d feel really upset too at that age. But they’ll get over it. Pop stars come and go and in 2 years they’ll be like ‘Ariana who?’ I was a teenager once too, mark my words.
Your post shows exactly why fans should speak up and not accept such treatment. If it isn’t made public, it will never change. When 3 fans are flown across the country to “hang” (in the promoter’s words) with Ariana Grande, I don’t think 2 or 3 minutes each, and the bare minimum of asking them their names, is too much to ask for. This was a meeting with 3 winners and 3 guests – not hundreds of fans. Happily, she has spent lots more time with random fans on the street since this was made public, so that is the positive. Hope it continues.
I completely agree with you and am glad you posted this. My kids are grown but had they experienced this with an up and coming “idol” I know they would be heartbroken as well. Shame on her. However, based on her brother’s entitled, narcissistic, sexual predator appearing tendencies in the Big Brother house (you have to watch or read the live feeds to appreciate just how truly vile he is), it doesn’t surprise me.
Why would you encourage people to not stand up for themselves?
Just because you are accepting of being treated worthlessly doesn’t mean the rest of the world has to. It is people like you who make celebrities and other “entitled” people feel like they are indeed above the average person.
It takes courage to hold your own when standing up against a negative force. This father and his family should be condoned for how they handled the situation. We finally live in an era where the regular folks voice can be HEARD via social media etc. We need to stand together and encourage each other. These celebrities need to know they are just flesh and bone like the rest of us, and just because they have more money and popularity does not mean they are entitled to treat others how they like. World peace would be a nice thing wouldn’t it? And it all starts with the human race preaching and practicing EQUALITY.
It’s interesting to find that Ariana and MTV have done NOTHING to better the experience of the contest winners. That shows how interested they are in keeping their popularity alive. But, no matter what happens, just know that this story will leave a lasting impression on all the past, present, and future readers. It’s a shame that it hasn’t been resolved though. This story definitely needs some kind of closure, a “happy ending” if you will. But as long as Ms. Grande and her personnel are irresponsible jerks, that probably won’t happen. And as for the hater situation, nobody should let a hater or bully get them down. They’re just jealous of you being so nice. Keep up the awesome work you do! 🙂
You know Ariana is human just like anyone else. She has millions of fans wanting a piece of her.
I suspect she feels very tired of fans in general.
Before it was probably fun to meet fans and she probably felt genuine affection for them then but now it’s probably overwhelming.
Difference between then and now is her management is scheduling these meetings wheras before you saw her in a social setting minus any obligations.
I doubt she gets any alone time to just be herself.
Personally I don’t try to meet celebrities but I understand why people do.
MTV sounds like a bunch of jerks and should have called Ariana’s ‘management’ to the carpet. Also they sound like a bunch of cheapskates…
I spoke to your daughter Jen over twitter message she’s super nice she reached out to thank me for supporting you guys. I just wanted to say that my true hope is still that Ariana sets things rite and your daughter can have the satisfaction of knowing that her idol isnt a total entitled b* word, but by the looks of it that will never happen. Thank God she has a father like you to be supportive through this negative experience you guys may not have a whole public relations team speaking for you, but you’ve done a great job of telling the truth in a very honest and diplomatic way. You never once slammed the star in a personal matter which many angry people would normally do, but you painted a very vivid picture of the truth for everyone without selling your story to a gossip magazine or celebrity news site. I have a lot of respect for your family and especially your daughter she is a trooper and like I told her, I was a huge fan of Ari but after reading what happened I could never support a star who is that self absorbed and mean (and who lies). I’m a bigger fan of your daughter as a good person then I will ever be of Ari as a super star ever again. “sometimes you find out that your heroes are only sandwiches”
I am a fan of Ariana’s. I think she has a beautiful voice, and I enjoy her music a lot. She has a lot of talent. It’s so unfortunate that your daughters experienced this when they met her. It’s sad that some celebrities still can’t appreciate the fans who got them to where they are today. As you mentioned, this wasn’t a random encounter. You weren’t interrupting her while she was spending personal time with family or dining at a restaurant. Your girls won a contest and worked really hard for a scheduled meet and greet with her. Everyone whining that she had a bad day needs to remember that in the entertainment business, when you are scheduled for things like interviews, concerts, meet and greets, and press junkets, the excuse “I’m having a bad day” doesn’t cut it. During events like that you need to leave your personal issues at the door and put on a positive face for the people who are there specifically for you. In my opinion, the fact that she’s not even being apologetic and trying to excuse her behavior away is telling of her true character, and it makes me sad because she is such a talented girl with a great public persona. It’s also telling that many of her old co-stars can’t seem to get along with her. I’m sorry that your girls had this woman they idolized ruined for them, but they can move forward knowing that you’re defending them and did everything you could to give Ariana a chance to make it right. As a fan of hers, I have to say there really is no excuse for her behavior and she should be ashamed of herself.
Thank God. I’ve worked with Ariana and her brother multiple times in live theatre and television, and while her brother is a kind person (though a bit entitled), she’s a total nightmare. I’ve seen her act like this not only to fans, but to coworkers and those with MUCH more fame and talent than she. And this was during Thirteen, before Victorious, after Victorious during Sam and Cat. I’ve known her when she was a nobody and then almost kind of on the B list. She’s never had any excuse to act like this, yet she always has. At least now people won’t think I’m crazy when I mention that she’s far from the characters she plays. Don’t believe everything a celebrity puts on, people. It isn’t that difficult to hide that you’re hell on wheels when you have a very expensive manager and PR team planning your every move.
I am so sorry that this happend to your daughters. It is so sad to know that she doesn’t appreciate her fans. At the end she is just a person with a job she would be nothing without them. I used to look to her for inspiration but I can’t be inspired by someone who thinks they are better than those who make her. I am no longer a fan,
“You can be talented and you can be pretty but if you’re mean nobody will like you.”
Ariana needs to clean up her act she’s a fucking grown up and she needs to stop fake being sad everytime something is said about her.really,who believes that crap anymore,she’s overused it
Your kids need to stop entering ‘meet and greet’ competitions. Being sucked into that superficial world of celebrity hero’s is your first problem.
Don’t expect anything from Ariana. She didn’t write a letter. That was a story Scooter or her PR reps had to quickly concoct to make her look a little less bad. Don’t expect her to ask her fans to stop threatening your daughter either.. she condones that kind of bullying clearly, as demonstrated when she wouldn’t ask her fans to stop wishing death upon Perez Hilton’s INFANT SON. Ariana is a bully. Plain and simple. A sheep in wolf’s clothing.
I applaud you and your family for turning down the interviews because God knows that her fans would’ve went “ape shit”, for lack of a better term, and accuse you of bashing Ariana for fame and publicity.
I also want to condone you for standing up to the vice president of her record company. Sure you are not “famous” but you have a voice. You have rights. You will NOT be a puppet and lie just so little Ariana can enjoy her album release week. You may not have all the money that that CEO is rolling in, but you have dignity and a sense of fidelity. Something that illuminati-brainwashed, selfish, money hungry CEO will never have.
FOR ALL THOSE SAYING THAT THIS MAN AND HIS FAMILY SHOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR THE EXPERIENCE THEY HAD:
I feel sorry for you. Because you see yourself as less valuable than you should. You are letting this little girl make yourself feel LUCKY to breath in 15 seconds of her air. You are flesh and bone just like Ariana. You deserve respect and to be treated equally like a human being.
If ANYONE is lucky, it is Ariana. She is lucky to have been born to a rich CEO of a mother who was able to hire the right people to make her little girl’s dreams come true, she is lucky to be born with somewhat talented vocal cords and she is lucky that little boys and girls everywhere fell in love with her character and voice. So SHE SHOULD BE GRATEFUL that there are people out here who love her, someone they have never met, enough that they devote their spare time to listening to her music, creating fan art and just endlessly supporting her. So never for ONCE think that celebrities don’t owe you anything. Because they owe you their career… so when the time comes to give back and spend a few minutes with the WINNERS of a meet-and-greet CONTEST, DAMN STRAIGHT Ariana should put a smile on her little elf-like face and return back some of the love that she received.
Little girls shouldn’t continue to be praised while acting like disrespectful little monsters. Hopefully enough people will open their eyes and bring this girl’s head back to Earth.
All these “impromptu” meet and greets are LAUGHABLE. These actions are so transparent. It’s just a shame all these 12 year old fans won’t know the difference.
Good on you for standing up for your family. I just found your blog post through the Buzzfeed article and I am so glad this story is gaining more traction. I had slightly heard of a meet and greet gone awry a couple weeks ago, but bought into the Ariana PR machine’s explanation that she was upset about the photo of her grandfather.
It’s unfortunate that this happened because I know how it feels like to be excited to meet your idol. I had a chance to meet Hilary Duff back in 2006 when she was launching her perfume, and I spent days laboring over what I was going to wear, how to do my hair, and what I was going to say. This meet and greet was local, too so I didn’t even have to travel as far as your daughters did. I could only imagine going all that way just to be crushed at knowing the person you so admire is not grateful or appreciative of you at all.
Anyways, you will probably continue getting threats from her young, impressionable fans who don’t know any better. Just ignore them and hopefully Ariana’s true side will be more apparent to people as this gains more attention in the press. I hope you just opened the door for more people to come forward and share their experiences with her.
Hey, small world. :0) I remember commenting on one of your posts a while back. I must disagree with you on one point: the happy ending is not that “Ariana is somewhere out in the world blessing someone” -ugh- the happy ending is that your daughters were spared being sucked into the machine itself. Tell them the truth! Let them know what a soul-chewer that machine is. In 5 years (or less), Ariana will be humping something on stage while your daughters will still be LADIES. Good on you, Dad. 😉 Stay strong- you’re the doorkeeper.
That’s horrible that your girls are receiving death threats! It never fails to amaze me how crazy some people can be. From all the things I’ve been seeing, Ariana Grande does have serious diva tendacies. I really hope things get better soon for you and your girls
Wow. What a wonderful father you are. Ariana is far from the angel she is publicly portrayed as. I’m so glad you opened up about her true colors, the national media has picked up on her diva behavior and its finally being addressed. I feel so terribly for your daughters. They must be devastated. The death threats from “Arianators” are horrifying. I’m so sorry.
Wow, I am in awe of what I have just read. Ariana Grande’s fame will vanish one day. She can’t survive in a Beyonce/Mariah Carey/Katy Perry/Rihanna world. She will ultimately become a “regular” person again, only then will she see the error of her ways.
I guess what i’m trying to say here is always treat people the way you wish to be treated.
And kudos for you, sir, for defending your daughters.
I found a link to your blog posts via the Sydney Morning Herald here in Australia and well, kudos to you for standing up for what is right and decent! It can’t have been easy, but you’ve done the right things and your daughters and wife I’m sure are proud of you for standing up for them!
Hope your daughters are alright – it can be so hurtful when someone you look up to disappoints them. Ariana had the chance to rectify this, but chose not to, and that is her choice. I’m impressed that you’ve said the good thing coming out of this is that Ariana is now seen to be more tolerant and generous with fans.
All the very best to you and your family. Ariana may be talented, but fame can be cruel and fleeting. Your love for your daughters is neither of those things. 🙂
Thanks much. Yes, there are actual horrible things happening in this world, much more important than an MTV contest, but Ariana Grande’s family sticks together and supports each other, and this non-famous family is no different. Treating people with respect is not that difficult. Correcting mistakes is another positive human trait, and thus far, she, her management, MTV, VH1 and Pepsi, have not attempted to correct anything for the 3 contest winners and their guests. Could have been solved initially, before the blog, with a simple, general tweet. All the best to you!
Hi Ariana Grande I am a big fan of you I hope you answer back.anyway my name is yamilisha and I am 11years old I wanted to say that I every day I listen to your music I love all your music.my favorite song of yours is problem I love it anyways bye and write back to me😊😁😲
I’m in Australia, where Ms Grande has been recently. I heard so many rumours about her behaviour, that I consulted old mate Google, and that’s what brought me here. Stories from her visit here include her walking out on a magazine photo shoot, then sending security in to make sure all the photos were deleted, and a popular radio show announcer who now flatly refuses to ever interview her again. If Ariana thinks that her celebrity status gives her the right to behave like a total cow, she has a rude shock coming. There’s only so many times that you can bite the hand that feeds you.
This is the best thing I’ve ever read. You are such great parents, I don’t mean cause of the blog but just hearing the stories of you taking your daughter to Vegas & waiting all day for Ariana to be there. Just know that not all celebrities are like that, of course you know, I read both of your blogs about the great experience of meeting Britney Spears who is on a level that Ariana may never get to. I had the chance to meet & be Hunger Game’s Josh Hutcherson’s guest at his charity event, & he was so nice to me & his fans. It was so great to see that since Josh was a child actor & how devoted he was to his fans even after all these years. I wish all the best to you & your family and look forward to your future blogs!
Thank you for the kind words! Parents should never stop being parents! People need to speak up when wronged.
Being a father myself I can see this totally sucks for you. You always want to protect your kids from the world and put them behind a ten foot wall to protect them from danger and pray nobody ever hurts their feelings. Unfortunately in our world having a special talent makes you rich and idolized by many. Adults are just as guilty as younger kids are about idolizing certain people. We have full blown felons playing pro sports but people still root for them even as long as they are scoring that touchdown or dunking that basketball. Also unfortunately some of these people being idolized are behind the scenes really bad people and either do not care or do not realize the affect they can have on others over the simplest things. I have a feeling this Ariana is in this “bad people” category. I do not know her personally but usually when there is smoke there is fire. I do have some sympathy for so called “stars” because they always have to be “on” all the time. But what happened to your girls really stinks and I hope its become a learning experience for them. Good luck and I am sorry this happened to your kids.
Good for you guys! I am happy this little blog made it to the news. This whole hollywood scene now is so redic, yeah their are nice celebrities, but then people like Ariana ruin it. Celebrities are like Gods now and think regular people are nobody, they wouldn’t be celebrities without people like your daughter. I feel so bad that someone she looked up to like that would do this to her, and then try to blame her artwork on twitter for why she was acting so rude.
I met her a month ago and she was such a sweet kind hearted down to earth person. Everyone has bad days that day may of been one for her, she is exhausted jet lagged and doesn’t have much energy all the time. I think you need to wipe your eyes and get over it writing all over the Internet and trying to make her look bad isnt going to make the situation any better. Leave ariana alone, Her true fans know who is she really is deep down, a kind funny down to earth girl and she gets very anxious and shy. My mum works in that industry and sometime the people around her the organiser etc, Boss her around tell her what to do & not to drag it on. I know ariana I saw her with my own eyes talked to her she is so kind, so please stop it.
So happy you enjoyed your experience with her. The blog post described two experiences with Ms. Grande; one quite lovely and the other less so. Her fans seem to only notice the less attractive experience. The blog is factual in both instances. The “bad day” excuse is difficult to believe, as she posted a Vine video just before meeting the fans, in which she and her dancers were laughing and twerking within the very building in which the fans were scheduled to meet her. They were never permitted inside, and when she briefly came out later, the laughing and twerking were replaced by a frosty glare and barked orders. The only ones who had a day day were the contest winners.
Oh shut up you dumb blind shit.stop defending that talentless bitch blindly
You’re awesome. Glad to see someone is still sticking up for themselves. 🙂 Nobody deserves to be treated that way.
That’s some seriously shady and screwed up way to treat fans. If I were your sweet daughters, I’d forget about even listening to her music or investing any more money in her music, regardless of how insignificant people might make it out to be. This is an example of exactly how corrupt and shady this so called music industry is, and then some… 😦
It really saddens me to see that Ariana would do something like that to her fans, let alone fans who made her amazing artwork or musical renditions. Honestly, it’s quite rude. I understand that you must be getting a lot of press for this, and i agree on your statement to not release or do any interviews. I really do hope that she ends up setting this straight.
My question for you is; do you think that the “Happy ending” that you described in the end of this post is all just a facade to try and cover up this and other countless incidents? Do you think that she has really changed? Or do you think that this was just another marketing scheme to sell her album (as most of these good incidents happened around the time of releasing her album?)
I believe you, I have to say I like Ariana’s voice and her new album has some good songs, however, I’m afraid the fame is not doing her well, expectations skyrocketed equally with popularity, let’s not forget that she’s still very young and simply needs to learn certain things. I think her agents or managers are not helping at all, they probably tell her what to do, how to act, what to say – to the point where she’s nothing more than a puppet. Being a celebrity is now her job, she knew what she was getting into (I hope). I’m not trying to defend her, I just hope she will get another chance and that she will make the best of it. We all hate our job at some point, I hope that’s all it was. I’m deeply sorry for what your daughters have been through but through that experience they realized (probably knew already) how much their father cares for them. I also hope Ariana realized how big influence on people she has and that it’s a big responsibility!
P.S. Sorry for my english, it’s not my first language as you probably realized 😛
i love you and i will do any think to see you i love you sooooooooooo much but i do not think i m going to see you because i m in London and that is my only dream is to take a selfie.
I read through your post because I was curious about the diva allegations I’ve been hearing about Ariana, and this came up on the search engine. After reading through every painful word, I must admit that I am disheartened. We can’t expect all celebrities to be generous, and we can’t expect them to go out of their way for their fans. They have lives too. While that is the case, I feel that Ariana really went out of her way in the opposite direction by not offering those fans what is exepected of her: respect. The fans are who support the artists, and in the pop industry it is a popularity contest rather than about raw talent (although Ariana does seem to have both of those things). I agree with your posts, and I feel that they were fair and not disrespectful of Ariana. While it is disappointing to hear news like this about an artist that I enjoy, I can only hope that your girls will find a new, more deserving idol to look up to and pour their time and hearts into meeting. Best wishes to you and your family, it took a lot of courage to stand up to the cruelty of a media giant.
I stumbled on this blog somehow, and I am so glad I did. I have always been skeptical about believing media about Ariana being a “diva.” I think it’s time I officially stop following/supporting Ariana on Twitter and Instagram. She needs to get over herself!
Since the blog became news, she has gone out of her way to show herself interacting positively with her fans. Seems this happens mostly when her cameras are on, but if those fans enjoy their experience, staged or not, at least something good has come of all this. Thanks for your comment, Brooke.
great read loved it. your a good father. sorry to hear your children went threw that. smh
Thank you! Just found this from a Perez Hilton article he attached this too. Thank you because now I don’t feel so bad trying to figure out how to pay the ridiculous ticket prices for her concert because my 11yr old would love to see her. I’d rather she keep the fantasy that people can be nice than to experience the disappointment your daughter went through.
Thanks for commenting and reading. I hope your little girl has a great experience, wherever you may take her. Please note: If you decide to pay for Ms. Grande’s “Meet n’ Greet” at her concerts, know that you and your daughter will be grouped in with strangers for a group photo. No one-on-one pics permitted. I’m not surprised.
I really think this is a good blog. Fans should know that some celebrities will act all vague and make no effort to even learn their name. I thought she was a good person but it’s obvious I was wrong. I honestly am glad this was posted. It needed to be known. It wasn’t right how she treated those contest winners. Maybe she’ll reach out one day and make amends. I hope so. Does she really want to be known like that? Fans are key in for singers. Without them, she wouldn’t have made it this far in her career.
Celebrities are busy people. She had to perform for millions of people that day. The whole thing was probably set up by MTV. Shes not going to call or fix anything. She was told to meet your daughters and she did. Get over it. It’s really petty that you would make a blog about this
She had no performance of any kind that day. If defending young contest-winners against rude, egotistical, snobs is “petty”, I am happy to be labeled as such.
Hi, I’m Summer ☺️ It was today that I found out about your experience with Ariana Grande and I hope it’s okay if I can also talk about my own, hopefully it wouldn’t bring up flashbacks for you, but I thought I could also share to comfort the both of us.
During the summer of 2014, I had a friend online who didn’t like her and neither did I. I used to, but I had seen proof of her cheating on one of her significant others, heard about other bad meet and greet experiences, and others. We both decided to make a blog on Tumblr called exposingagb. It was an immature thing to do, but we did it for only maybe a month.
The friend I made the blog with apparently had a cousin who was friends with Ariana, so she had contacted the cousin to ask about Ariana. She ended up helping us with the blog and gave us some stories. She was identified as Sam, but she told us that was not her real name. There wasn’t any proof that it was really her friend, but my own friend and I kind of gathered up our own online to expose her in other ways anyway.
So, while this was happening, I received a text from Sam who claimed they were Ariana. We texted back and forth for maybe half an hour or more. Ariana, or whoever they were, was as ignorant as I had thought. Saying things like, “I know I can sing” and “I can act however I want to” and “I’ll make sure my fans will hurt you”. I would show you the screenshots, but I deleted them not too long ago because I didn’t think I had any use for them anymore.
Anyway, towards the end of the argument, Ariana threatened to take down the blog by the next day, saying everything I had on it was false. But if they were, why was she so worried about it being open to the public? I had people tell me about their experiences meeting her, proof of situations that followed up, and more. I had a feeling it was the same person posing as Sam, or was Sam, so I kind of ignored it and didn’t expect her to have the ability to take it down.
The next morning I went on the blog to see that it was deleted. I thought it was kind of ironic, too. Some could argue that it was a coincidence, and I would too, but we weren’t that popular. Blogs can be removed after many people report it, but if only a handful of people knew about it, how did it get deleted so quickly? That’s when my friend and I decided to make a second blog, showing the screenshots this time. That only got more attention from Arianators.
A similar blog like exposingagb is exposingsmg, which is for Selena Gomez. The owners of that blog were/are fans of Ariana and because they did have a lot of followers, we got attacked even more. Which leads me to another question. How come exposingagb got deleted within a few weeks, but not exposingsmg when it has been a thing for over two years now? If there is a blog that a celebrity disapproves of and is about, they have the power to take it down.
My experience isn’t a big deal. Just a blog that was deleted by supposedly Ariana Grande, but nevertheless, our experience with the outcome can be similar with the hate and all. I know it’s been years since it happened and I apologize if me bringing it up affected you in a negative way, but I wanted to let you know that I’m thankful your family decided to expose her like that. Whether what happened to me was caused by her or someone else, I truly believe she is arrogant and needs to be put in her place. Your story opened my eyes even more and hopefully hers, too.
Your daughters are lucky to have a father like you. Pop stars come and go but what you did for your family would always be remembered. And yes, because of your nerves of steel, fans will now hopefully be treated like actual human beings who have feelings