Ariana Grande quickly apologized for making a joke about JonBenét Ramsey, the 6-year-old beauty queen whose 1996 murder remains unsolved. Grande and a friend joked about dressing up as Ramsey for Halloween, and she was later called out for it. The “7 Rings” singer deleted her messages and apologized to a fan who shared screenshots of the comments.
This weekend, Grande’s friend Doug Middlebrook shared a photo of a tabloid with Ramsey’s photo on the cover.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“No one has done more covers,” Middlebrook wrote.
“I can’t wait for this to be your Halloween look,” Grande joked, adding a black heart emoji in the comments.
“Working on it already,” Middlebrook replied.
A Twitter user caught a screenshot of the comments before they were deleted.
Wait WHAT?? an 8-year-old girl who was violently killed, strangled and suffocated cannot be anyone’s costume… pic.twitter.com/MwaAXavyBE
— IVAN (@ivanmoratroya) July 29, 2019
Grande quickly replied to the person, writing, “yeah no i deleted it very quickly and understand that it’s not at all funny. this was out of pocket and i sincerely apologize.”
Some fans accepted her apology, but many others accused her of only doing so because she was being called out for them. Others noted the comment was actually a day old when the screenshots were taken.
“No baby that comment was up for a day and you’re just now apologizing because you got called out. this ain’t it sis. r u good?” one person replied.
“Sis it was up for a day you didn’t delete it quickly,” one fan wrote. “You got caught and if someone would’ve never posted it your comment will probably still be there. just get off social media you’re just gonna make it worse.”
“This was a joke that EVERYONE can do but everyone sees it bad if it comes from a public figure, don’t worry and have the humor you’ve always had, LOVE YOU,” another fan wrote.
“Imagine thinking an apology is gonna cut it,” another chimed in.
Ramsey was found dead in her family’s Boulder, Colorado, home in December 1996. The case remains unsolved and is still an open investigation. The case received considerable media attention, and members of the family have sued media outlets for defamation.
Grande shook off the criticism by teasing social media with a new song, “Boyfriend,” featuring the pop duo Social House. Grande posted brief clips on her Twitter page Monday, announcing that the song will be released on Friday.
Photo credit: Getty Images
