Ariana Grande responds to criticism over Manchester Pride appearance: “I just wanna put on a show that makes my fans feel special”

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Kevin Mazur/One Love Manchester/ Getty Images for One Love ManchesterAriana Grande has a special relationship with the city of Manchester, England, but her upcoming appearance at the LGBTQ festival Manchester Pride has caused some grumbling among fans.

After one fan tweeted, “k …. ariana headlining pride when she’s straight (as far as we’re all aware) …. and doubling the price of tickets …. kinda smells like exploitation of the lgbt community to me …..,” Ari responded with a lengthy message addressing both of those complaints.

“I have nothing to do with ticket pricing — manchester pride sets those rates, and they’re mostly out of my control,” she explained.

As for her being straight, she writes, “I want to celebrate and support this community regardless of my identity or how people label me. And also i wanna visit a city that means so much to me.”

She then argued that “over the years, pride events have been headlined by performers and artists of all sexual orientations and genders” — and mentioned “straight allies” Cher and Kylie Minogue as examples.

“I do think there’s room for us to talk about these issues without equating a performance *for* an lgbtq audience with the exploitation of the lgbtq community,” she pointed out. “If you truly feel like i didn’t deserve to be offered this spot, i respect that, but i did accept it excitedly and gratefully.”

Ariana summed everything up, saying, “I just wanna put on a show that makes my lgbtq fans feel special and celebrated and supported. That’s all I wanna do.”

The original fan who complained then thanked Ariana for responding, and other fans chimed in praising the singer for her explanation. However, a few fans piled on and snarked that if Ari really wanted to support her LGBTQ fans, she wouldn’t perform at Coachella, whose owner is rumored to be anti-gay, despite repeated denials.

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