In a candid heart-to-heart with Nicole Kidman, Ariana Grande admitted that fame has left her with lasting trauma.
In the conversation, the pop star reflected on the intense transition when her career skyrocketed, saying she felt “traumas” tied to fame that affected her ability to enjoy her craft.
Kidman mentioned Grande’s upcoming tour, prompting the singer to describe how much she’s rebuilt behind the scenes.
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Grande told Interview Magazine, “I spent a lot of time redoing my system when it comes to making music. With ‘Eternal Sunshine,’ that felt like a very different experience for me. I think the time away from it helped me reclaim certain pieces of it and put certain feelings that maybe belonged to my relationship to fame, or the things that come with being an artist, in a box somewhere else, and say, ‘OK. I don’t have to let go of this thing that I love. I can just put those things over here and not lose sight of my gifts.’
“So, I’ve just been taking baby steps towards healing my relationship to music and touring, and I think my time with Glinda and with acting really helped me build the strength to be able to do that. But I can’t express how grateful I am. I think it just held some traumas for me before, and I feel those dissipating. And that is such an extraordinarily beautiful thing.”
Grande additionally opened up about how quickly rising to global fame affected her as a young artist.
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“There was a tricky adjustment period in the very beginning, when my pop career took off the way that it did,” she said. “And I hope this doesn’t sound ungrateful, but it’s just a big adjustment when your life changes in that very drastic way.”
The “thank u, next” singer said that while she struggled with the sudden shift, she never lost sight of how fortunate she was to have a career doing what she loves.
“I’m so grateful to be able to do what I love. I just wasn’t expecting certain pieces of it,” she said.
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Kidman, who also found herself in the spotlight at a young age, said she understood what Grande was describing.
Drawing from her early years in Hollywood, she described the overwhelming intensity of constant public attention.
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“Well, you’re very young, and then suddenly you’re put into this fishbowl, and everything is dissected,” Kidman said.
“It starts to get very, very difficult, and then you overthink it. And then you get scared, and then you get hurt, and then you go, ‘Now I don’t want to go out. I don’t want to venture into this world.’ I get it.”
One incident that likely affected Grande’s outlook on touring was the Manchester Arena bombing eight years ago.
On May 22, 2017, 22 people were killed when a suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device outside the venue as concertgoers were exiting.
Police later said more than 1,000 were injured in the blast.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Grande for comment.
