Ariana Grande Poses With Best Friend Doug Middlebrook While Skipping Grammys

Ariana Grande will not be alone as she skips The Grammys on Sunday, since she has declared it Doug Middlebrook Day.

Grande dropped out of performing at, or even attending the 61st Grammy Awards earlier this week, after she reportedly had a disagreement with producers. The singer was not pleased with how the whole affair was handled, and on Sunday, chose to ignore the Grammys altogether. In an Instagram post that afternoon, she showed how she was spending her day with friend, Doug Middlebrook, instead.

“Happy [Doug Middlebrook] day,” Grande captioned the black and white shot. It showed herself and Middlebrook in what looked like an empty conference room, standing in a full-length mirror. Grande wore an oversized puffy coat over a short skirt and thigh-high boots, while Middlebrook wore a striped jacket, tight black pants and sneakers.

Middlebrook is Grande’s best friend, who has apparently been by her side for many years. He has accompanied her to big events, spent time with her family and done just about everything else with Grande. This weekend, that seems to include avoiding the music industry’s biggest award show of the year.

Grande’s absence from the Grammys was announced on Wednesday. Sources close to the award show said that Grande was upset and “insulted” when producers would not let her sing “7 Rings” on stage. As the story picked up steam, however, Grande got on social media to set the record straight.

“Mhmmm here it is! ‘too late for her to pull something together……’” Grande wrote alongside a screenshot of the story. “I’ve kept my mouth shut but now you’re lying about me. I can pull together a performance over night and you know that, Ken. It was when my creativity & self expression was stifled by you, that I decided not to attend. I hope the show is exactly what you want it to be and more.”

“I offered 3 different songs,” she went on. “It’s about collaboration. It’s about feeling supported. It’s about art and honesty. Not politics. Not doing favors or playing games. It’s just a game y’all.. and I’m sorry but that’s not what music is to me.”

With or without Grande, the Grammys go on on Sunday night. Other performers include Miley Cyrus, Cardi B and St. Vincent. Grande has two nominations for her album Sweetener, which was released late in the summer. They are Best Solo Pop Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album. Pharelle Williams is also nominated for Producer of the Year on the album.

The Grammys air live on Sunday night starting at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.