Ariana Grande is retreating from the public eye. Following the conclusion of her Eternal Sunshine Tour in London on Sept. 1, the pop star plans to take a break from the spotlight. A representative for Grande confirmed the news to People amid intensifying scrutiny and concern over her health.
“Ariana will be taking a step back from visibility after she completes the Eternal Sunshine Tour,” Grande’s representative told the outlet on Sunday. “She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny. This tour has been a beautiful experience for her. She loves her fans and has loved every minute of this tour so much.”
The announcement comes days after the release of Petal, Grande’s eighth studio album. The “Hate That I Made You Love Me” singer celebrated the album’s release on Monday with an Instagram post filled with stills from her newly unveiled, controversial music video for the project’s title track. Grande did not address her retreat from the spotlight in the post.
Grande had also been set to star opposite her Wicked costar Jonathan Bailey in the West End revival of Stephen Sondheim’sSunday in the Park with George. On Sunday, the official social media accounts for the stage play confirmed that Grande would no longer star in it.
“Following this evening’s announcement from Ariana Grande’s team, we can confirm that she has decided to step back from Sunday in the Park with George,” read the statement. “We know this cannot have been an easy decision, and she makes it with our complete understanding and support. We wish her nothing but the best.”
Sunday in the Park with Georgewill still open next summer at London’s Barbican Centre and a replacement for Grande’s character will be announced in due time.
Grande previously addressed the discourse surrounding her body in 2023, when she shared a lengthy video on TikTok urging people to be “gentler and less comfortable commenting on people’s bodies.”
“I just wanted to address your concerns about my body and talk a little bit about what it means to be a person with a body and to be seen, and to be paid such close attention to,” she said. “I know personally for me, the body that you’ve been comparing my current body to was the unhealthiest version of my body. I was on a lot of antidepressants, and drinking on them and eating poorly, and at the lowest point of my life when I looked the way you considered my ‘healthy.'”
The “Petal” pop star said, at the time, that she wanted to address the public discourse in hopes that “good might come from it.”
“Even if you are coming from a loving place and a caring place, that person probably is working on it or has a support system that they are working on it with,” she said. “You never know, so be gentle with each other and with yourselves.”
Grande briefly addressed the criticism once more last November, when she shared a “loving reminder” on her Instagram story. She reposted a December 2024 interview in which she opened up about being body shamed as a teenager.
“I have heard it all. I’ve heard every version of it, of what’s wrong with me. And then you fix it, and then it’s wrong for different reasons,” Grande said.
While Grande’s representative did not specify whether the public scrutiny pertained to her physical appearance, the internet has been rife with speculation. Vivienne Lewis, a clinical psychologist who has spent over two decades researching and working with people who’ve experienced eating disorders, outlined the difference between scrutiny and concern in a story she penned for the Conversation.
“Many people defend comments about a celebrity’s appearance by saying they’re simply expressing concern,” Lewis wrote. “But concern doesn’t require thousands of strangers discussing someone’s body online. Public speculation can become deeply personal, intrusive and impossible to escape. It can also have unintended consequences for everyone else watching.”
Grande kicked off her Eternal Sunshine tour — her first in seven years — in June. During an appearance on Amy Poehler’s Good Hangpodcast last November, Grande described the 41-show tour as “one last hurrah” that might not happen again for a long time as she shifts her focus to acting.
All of Grande’s remaining dates for the Eternal Sunshine tour are sold out. She is set to play three shows in Chicago before heading to London, where she’ll play her 10 final shows starting Aug. 15.
Grande will next appear inFocker In-Law, the fourth installment of the Meet the Parentsfilm franchise, out Nov. 25.
If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, please visit the National Eating Disorders (NEDA) website atnationaleatingdisorders.orgfor more information.
