In recent weeks, some fans, followers and detractors have asked the same question: What is going on with Ariana Grande?
This summer, the actor and singer pulled out of a high-profile theatrical role and announced that she would be stepping away from the spotlight at the conclusion of her Eternal Sunshine Tour, which ended this week in London.
Grande is among several other high-profile celebrities who have temporarily withdrawn from public life in recent years. In 2024, Adele told her audience she would be taking a similar break after the end of her residency in Las Vegas.
“I will not see you for an incredibly long time,” she said, adding that she needed to rest and wanted to enjoy the “new life” she had built for herself. Taylor Swift also temporarily disappeared from the limelight for over a year after her public feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian in 2016.
Here’s what to know.
Grande faced ‘endless, ongoing public scrutiny.’
In August, a representative for Grande told People magazine that the singer would be “taking a step back from visibility” after the conclusion of her Eternal Sunshine Tour. The trek, named after her album released in 2024, included dozens of stops in the United States, Canada and England.
“She 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,” the representative told People. “This tour has been a beautiful experience for her. She loves her fans and has loved every minute of this tour so much.”
Shortly after the statement, Grande spoke to attendees at a tour stop in Chicago to “clear the air about a few things,” saying that her representative’s statement had been a “little blown out of proportion.” She added that her decision was not “reactive or impulsive” and one she had “quietly made a long time ago.”
“It was a decision that was made from a thoughtful and empowered place,” Grande also said. “And I want you to know that many things can be true at the same time. The announcement came after a whirlwind several years for Grande, which included starring in the two-part film adaptation of “Wicked.”
Grande and Jonathan Bailey drop out of a musical.
Along with her step back from the spotlight, Grande’s team announced that she was pulling out of her starring role in the highly anticipated West End revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s “Sunday in the Park With George,” which was set to premiere in 2027.
Weeks after her announcement, Jonathan Bailey, Grande’s co-star in “Wicked” who was also headlining the London production, announced that he would also be dropping out of the musical.
“Ari is one of my dearest friends, and my support for her is unwavering,” Bailey wrote in the statement, which he posted on his Instagram story. “After much consideration, I have decided to also step back from ‘Sunday in the Park With George.’” He described the show’s director, Marianne Elliott, as “extraordinary.”
“I so look forward to seeing what the two actors who will now take on these roles will create with it,” Bailey wrote.
Unwanted comments on the star’s appearance.
Grande’s announcement came after weeks of intense online speculation about her body and health.
She has previously pushed back on such criticisms. In 2023, when some fans expressed concerns about how she looked in the production of “Wicked,” Grande posted a video on social media addressing those anxieties.
“The body that you’ve been comparing my current body to was the unhealthiest version,” she said, explaining that she was actually “at the lowest point” in her life when she was the figure some fans considered “healthy.”
“I think we should be gentler and less comfortable commenting on people’s bodies, no matter what,” she also said.
Will she return for ‘Focker-in-Law’?
In October 2025, Grande was announced as a cast member of Season 13 of Ryan Murphy’s “American Horror Story.” However, this summer, shortly before her representative’s statement, reports suggested that Grande would no longer participate. Murphy later confirmed that she was leaving in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. He blamed the departure on “a scheduling conflict” and said that the two had discussed her participating in a later season.
But fear not. Grande will be back on the big screen in “Focker-in-Law,” the latest installment in the “Meet the Fockers” franchise, in which she plays a former F.B.I. agent who is a fiancée of the Fockers’ grandchild. The film is scheduled to be released in November. It was not yet clear whether Grande would appear on the press circuit to promote the comedy.
The post Ariana Grande Steps Back From the Spotlight. What Does That Mean? appeared first on New York Times.
