Ariana Grande stays poised navigating leaked music and spicy wings on Hot Ones

If you had any qualms about Ariana Grande’s ability as an actor, her appearance on Hot Ones (finally) will put that to rest. Though she acknowledged that the spiciest sauce triggered an out-of-body experience, she remains poised throughout the entire gauntlet of vegan wings. Similarly, she deftly and diplomatically navigated host Sean Evans’ questions with the finesse of someone who has been media-trained since her child star days. 

For instance, when asked about the impact of leaked music (over which she previously declared she’d see the culprits “in jail, literally!”), Grande gave a generous “I see both sides” answer. “It’s hard. It’s really hard for me, because it’s really disheartening, and it’s disappointing, and it sucks. And I am constantly trying to get to the bottom of how people get stuff, whether it’s videos or pictures or audio, songs, and then also like, commented on, criticized, blah blah blah,” she said. “So it’s conflicting because that is very frustrating and feels very dehumanizing, and then the other side is like… I’m so grateful to be an artist people care about, and my fans want more of me, so they’re going to these extremes to steal and break in. It’s so lovely to be loved. But yeah, I sit somewhere in between being grateful to be here at all and being like, ‘But really? Come on.’ So that’s how I feel.”

A David Byrne quote about “the better a singer’s voice, the harder it is to believe what they’re saying”? “I see where he’s coming from, but no, I don’t think one negates the other,” Grande replied politely. Songs that she’s tired of performing? The singer admitted “that’s a natural thing” that all artists can relate to, but “seeing the reaction to it also kind of replaces that,” she said. “There was a time when it was hard for me to feel that same gratitude that I do now for certain songs and for the music, because I think some of it was a stressful time, and I think becoming a pop star is insane at 19 or 20. And I think that experience was sort of married to some of the songs a little bit, or some of the songs that are more emotional that the experience that inspired them can be married to the music for me for a second. But with time and therapy we sort of are able to re-embrace. So I just feel just really proud and grateful, and happy when I hear them. I’m like, ‘That’s a good song.’ Whereas I used to maybe hear it and cry, so that’s a beautiful thing.”

Perhaps therapy has given Grande such incredible zen that she’s not only able to rise above the everyday annoyances of being an ultra famous pop star, but also rise above the physical and mental strain of consuming a bunch of hot sauces. Arianators can certainly walk away from this one proud that their idol completely crushed it on the show, coming quite close to Lorde levels of unflappability. Plus, she may have discovered a new way of conquering the wings, which is to drink black coffee while doing it. All in all, after waiting for so long for this episode, fans can consider this one a success.