Singer Ariana Grande clarified to the public that she loves America, but hates obesity in an apologetic letter to Buzzfeed, an internet media company on Wednesday, July 8. TMZ released video footage of Grande in a donut shop, repeatedly saying that she hates America on Independence Day. The singer was also scrutinized for canceling her MLB All-Star Game performance, scheduled for July 14.
"I am EXTREMELY proud to be an American and I've always made it clear that I love my county*. What I said in a private moment with my friend, who was buying the donuts, was taken out of context and I am sorry for not using more discretion with my choice of words," wrote 22-year-old Grande.
The donut shop owner Joe Marin released the video surveillance footage to TMZ, a celebrity news website. The video shows Grande with her new love interest Ricky Alvarez. A worker brings out a pan of donuts and places it atop the clear display case for a brief moment. Grande takes a look at the tray of fried pastries and says, "I hate America. I hate America. That's disgusting." The worker immediately puts the donuts into the display case and walks away.
"This is not good. I live only blocks away, and if I had known what was happening, I would have gone to the shop and kicked them out," said Marin in an interview with Riverside Press-Enterprise.
Grande, who was born in Florida, expressed regret for offending people with her "poor choice of words." She promised that she will work towards becoming a better role model "with her new responsibility to others as a public figure." She explained that her statements were spurred by her frustration with "the fact that the United States has the highest child obesity rate in the world." She added that she gets upset at the way Americans "consume things without giving any thought to the consequences" that it has on health and to society as a whole.
The singer closed the letter by clarifying that she is not performing at the MLB All-Star Game because of a recent emergency oral procedure. Grande said that she hopes to "make it up" to the fans soon, but needs time to recover from the surgery. Her statement regarding the MLB game were backed up by the MLB Communications department on Tuesday, July 8. MLB tweeted that Grande was being replaced by singer Demi Lovato "as a result of health issues." Futhermore, Grande tweeted that she had her "final three wisdom teeth" removed on Monday, July 6.
