Ariana Grande recently dropped a single called “yes, and?” And while there are a lot of people who’ve been commenting on the perceived quality of the song—with some stating that they are enjoying the late ’80s/early ’90s Madonna-esque vibe and others arguing that it sounds more akin to the result of a soulless ChatGPT prompt—that’s not the only topic of conversation surrounding the singer’s latest release.
Throngs of people have turned to a specific verse in the song that they believe directly relates to her current controversial relationship. For reference, here’s a TikTok containing the lyrics in question:
@jarredjermaine Did anyone catch these lyrics in Ariana Grande “yes, and?” #arianagrande #lyric #lyrics #yesand ♬ yes, and? – Ariana Grande
It seems like the biggest reason why people are getting on Grande’s case is because she is dating Wicked co-star Ethan Slater, who is also father of a 1-year-old son he shares with his ex-wife, Lilly Jay. According to Glamour, Jay said that her and her son are just “collateral damage” when it comes to Grande and Slater’s romance, and that she’s “devastated by the split” as the two of them met while they were in high school and have been by each other’s side for so long.
Page Six also says that both Grande and Slater had officially ended things with their respective spouses for at least a couple of months before they decided to pursue things with one another romantically. In the case of Slater and Jay, it was two months. For Grande and Gomez, news of their divorce came “just days before it was confirmed” she was dating Slater.
To denizens of the internet carefully monitoring the romantic lives of complete strangers, however, they don’t seem to care that there are those who say Slater and Grande did nothing wrong and that the two are happy with one another.
Ariana seemed to address critiques from fans in her new single, “yes, and?” that contains the lyrics: “Your business is yours, and mine is mine. Why do you care so much whose d*ck I ride?” Many believe that this snippet of the track refers to her and Slater’s relationship and the individuals who take issue with the fact that she may have gotten romantically involved with a man who was married with a young child.
There were several people who didn’t think Grande was giving off the #girlboss energy she may’ve thought she was giving in her song, with several X (formerly Twitter) users sharing their opinions of the track with replies to a Pop Crave tweet referencing Ariana’s message to her haters.
Ariana Grande addresses critics on her new single “yes, and?”:
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) January 12, 2024
“Your business is yours, and mine is mine. Why do you care so much whose d*ck I ride?” pic.twitter.com/UdjHHwyluf
One person responded with a gif that includes a text overlay which states: “close your legs to married men.”
Another user penned, “she’s embarrassing herself.”
One user wrote, “being and promoting being a homewrecker is soooo ugly n not the serve yall think it is.”
“she’s 30 bragging about being a side chick pack it up,” one user wrote, indicating that they are probably no longer a fan of the musician.
“That’s actually sad af tbh,” someone else wrote.
While another user replied, “So basically she took the man of a wife with a 1 year old based on her own needs. Yes, she is def someone to look up to.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Ariana Grande via Instagram DM for further comment.
