(PCM) When footage of Ariana Grande licking donuts and saying she “hates America” leaked on Tuesday, the backlash was immediate, and #DonutGate was born.
People were quick to react to the footage, calling the pop diva’s actions disgusting and condemning her behavior.
A video of the footage, obtained by TMZ, spread online and aired on almost every morning news broadcast, sparking national outrage.
In the video, Ariana is seen with three friends at Wolfee Donuts in Lake Elsinore, California, standing at the counter over trays of donuts on display. The “One Last Time” singer then licks one of the display donuts before one of her friends joins in on the unhygienic hijinks.
Grande then moves to a different tray of donuts on display and licks another donut. At the end of the video, Ariana is presented with a tray of fresh donuts by a store attendant, to which she replies, “What the F*** is that? I hate America. I hate Americans.”
Almost immediately, Ariana Grande was inundated with tweets and comments from disappointed fans and long-time haters alike, calling out the singer-actresses’ deplorable behavior. Her treatment of the store attendant is appalling, and licking the donuts on display is downright disgusting, not to forget trashing her fellow citizens and American fans.
After the deluge of hate thrown her way, Grande released what is, at best, a non-apology for the incident to Buzzfeed, claiming to be “EXTREMELY proud to be an American” before blaming her hateful comments on America’s child obesity rates and unhealthy relationship with food.
The donut-licking is never addressed in the statement, which you can read in full below:
I am EXTREMELY proud to be an American and I’ve always made it clear that I love my country. 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. As an advocate for healthy eating, food is very important to me and I sometimes get upset by how freely we as Americans eat and consume things without giving any thought to the consequences that it has on our health and society as a whole. The fact that the United States has the highest child obesity rate in the world frustrates me. We need to do more to educate ourselves and our children about the dangers of overeating and the poison that we put into our bodies. We need to demand more from our food industry. However I should have known better in how I expressed myself; and with my new responsibility to others as a public figure I will strive to be better. As for why I cannot be at the MLB show, I have had emergency oral surgery and due to recovery I cannot attend the show. I hope to make it up to all those fans soon. That being said let me once again apologize if I have offended anyone with my poor choice of words.