Jameela Jamil accused Ariana Grande of glamourising a “deeply damaging image” shortly before the singer announced her break from public life.
On Sunday, two days after the singer released her album Petal and the title track’s music video, Ariana’s representative announced that she “will be taking a step back from visibility” after her tour ends on 1 September due to the “endless, ongoing public scrutiny” of her appearance.
In recent weeks, the Into You hitmaker has sparked concern among fans about her body, and the online discourse reached a fever pitch on Friday when she released the Petal music video.
Actress Jameela weighed in on the criticism by blasting Ariana’s “thoroughly irresponsible” team for approving her looks in the video.
“This poor woman is possibly dying right in front of us,” she wrote in an Instagram comment. “This outfit is designed to accentuate the thinness for discourse. Her team are thoroughly irresponsible for not guiding her away from this deeply damaging image for her young fans to see so glamorised.”
In a series of now-deleted Instagram Stories posts, Jameela, who previously suffered from an eating disorder, addressed the “shrinking pop star situation”.
“If we comment on her body, we could harm her mental health, which would be awful, and nobody wants that,” she continued. “If we don’t comment on her body, we run the risk of normalising that image to hundreds of millions of teenage girls, kids and even impressionable adults, consuming her content. Content which is pointedly accentuating her bones and tiny frame with belts and corsets.”
The Good Place star claimed that recent images of Ariana were “flooding pro-anorexia websites” and questioned when it was appropriate to intervene and “stop normalising” her look.
Her comments drew a mixed response from the singer’s fans, with some praising Jameela for calling it out and others accusing her of body-shaming Ariana.
In Sunday’s statement, the Wicked star’s rep insisted she was happy and healthy on tour, which concludes on 1 September after three shows in Chicago and a 10-night residency at London’s O2 Arena.
As part of her step back from public life, Ariana has also withdrawn from the upcoming London production of Sunday in the Park with George next summer. She was set to star in the musical revival alongside her Wicked co-star Jonathan Bailey.
It is unclear if she will still promote her next movie, Focker-in-Law, when it is released in November.
