![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8607ede4b0f11a6887c8822fcf579cd32c05719a.jpg\")
Camera IconA representative for the pop star said she would be stepping out of the public eye once her tour concludes. Credit: Ariana Grande\/Youtube<\/p>\nAriana Grande says negative commentary and speculation around her health \u201chas not ruined\u201d her career amid her decision to step away from public-facing work after her tour ends.<\/p>\n
The 33-year-old actress \u201ccleared the air\u201d at her Chicago concert on Monday night local time after a representative for the pop singer said she will be taking a break from the spotlight due to \u201cendless, ongoing public scrutiny\u201d.<\/p>\n
Grande sparked concerns about weight loss following the release of the music video for her song Petal, the title track off her new album, where she appears very thin.<\/p>\n
The video shared to YouTube has more than 60,000 comments from fans, with many expressing concerns over the state of her health.<\/p>\n
A representative for Grande told People on Sunday local time: \u201cAriana will be taking a step back from visibility after she completes the Eternal Sunshine Tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis tour has been a beautiful experience for her. She loves her fans and has loved every minute of this tour so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Monday night at her first of three concerts in Chicago, Grande directly addressed her fans about her decision to step back, saying it was something she had planned \u201ca long time ago\u201d.<\/p>\n
Footage shared on X showed the Wicked star standing on stage for more than four minutes, where she read a speech she wrote down on her phone in case she got \u201cnervous and freaked out\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it okay if I talk to you guys for a moment?\u201d she asked the crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst of all, I wanna say I love you so much, and I\u2019m so happy to be here with you guys tonight.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to get a little real tonight, is that okay? I wrote down my thoughts; I didn\u2019t want to get nervous and freak out.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes when a story comes out that\u2019s not directly from me, things can get a little blown out of proportion, so I just wanted to speak to my fans directly tonight, I love you so much.<\/p>\n
Grande said she wanted to \u201cclear the air\u201d after public speculation about why she was stepping back and promised to \u201ckeep it short\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo basically the announcement that was made yesterday is not a reactive or impulsive thing \u2014 it\u2019s something I had decided to plan that I quietly made a long time ago and it\u2019s a decision made from a thoughtful and empowered place and I want you to know that many things can be true at the same time,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to share this because I heard that my fans were worried negativity was \u2018ruining things for me\u2019 but I just have to say that could not be [further from the truth].<\/p>\n
\u201cI promise you this is not what that is and I just want to be very, very clear multiple things can be true at the same time. Boundaries need to be set.<\/p>\n
\u201cHuman beings can need a break sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Camera IconA representative for the pop star said she would be stepping out of the public eye once her tour concludes. Credit: Ariana Grande\/Youtube<\/p>\n
Grande said touring her music \u201ccan be and will continue to be the greatest experience of my professional and creative life\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing will get in the way of that make, I want to make that quite plain,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter what noises exist out there nothing will ever be able to disturb my reality, nothing will be more live to me or real to me than this or how it feels to make art with the people I love and respect absolutely nothing will change that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former Nickelodeon star wrapped up her thoughts but saying she needed to \u201cdifferentiate that from my truth for you all\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat felt good,\u201d she said before continuing with her performance.<\/p>\n
Grande is also pulling out of the upcoming London revival of Sunday in the Park With George.<\/p>\n
She was due to appear opposite her Wicked co-star Jonathan Bailey in a new production of Stephen Sondheim\u2019s critically acclaimed musical at the Barbican in 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ariana Grande says negative commentary and speculation around her health \u201chas not ruined\u201d her career amid her decision…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":842947,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,134,136],"class_list":["post-842946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/842947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}