If people like Ariana Grande’s stolen trash so much, she’ll happily sell it to them

Last summer, an Ariana Grande track called “Fantasize” lit up the TikTok and Spotify charts, but there was a problem: Grande herself didn’t release the track or others that were also going around. They were leaked demos created for something else that she had never actually intended to release. Grande asked her fans to stop sharing the songs, but, the Streisand Effect being what it is, that just made more people aware of the leak and prolonged the spread. Now, though, Grande has changed her tune (so to speak), and if people want to actually give her money for repurposed garbage that she never intended to take money for, then she is more than happy to allow that—though she’s still looking to punish the leakers.

In an appearance on the Zach Sang Show on Amazon Music’s Twitch channel, the Wicked star said “I’ll see you in jail, literally” when asked about the leaks, and explained that the positive reception to them convinced her to actually rework the tracks into better songs that will be included on her new album Eternal Sunshine. She says they were “written for a TV show” to be a “parody of this girl group vibe,” and even though she thinks they’re “so corny,” she knows her fans liked them anyway and so she “kind of gave them Ariana’s Version” on the album.

Still, just in case her contempt for the original leaked tracks isn’t clear enough, she says the songs are “completely different now,” adding, “although you’ve heard them—because you stole them—they’re very different now.” Does sharing a song that someone else stole make you as culpable as the stealer? That’s for everyone’s preferred cosmic judgmental deity to determine, not us, but… it seems kinda unfair to paint with such a broad brush. Spotify removed “Fantasize,” but surely it’s not your fault for sharing a track that is freely available on TikTok, right? Isn’t that TikTok’s fault?

Anyway, Eternal Sunshine comes out on March 8.