Ariana Grande took to Twitter to respond to rumors that she'd been offered over $1 million to get her botched “7 rings” tattoo removed. Additionally, she also took to the social media platform to comment on accusations of “cultural appropriation.”
Grande responded to a tweet by TMZ about a reported $1 million offer by Laser Away to remove her latest tattoo. “I‘ll give y’all a million to get off my nuts,” she wrote.
The 25-year-old pop star got the tattoo to celebrate the release of her new song, “7 Rings,” by getting what she thought was “7 Rings” in Japanese. However, it turned out what was written was actually “Japanese style BBQ.”
Grande responded to Twitter users pointing out the blunder: “i'd like it to be respectful and more correct bruh what’s wrong w that. tryna learn heeere.”
She then consulted with a Japanese-fluent friend to fix the tattoo, documenting their conversations in a series of Instagram Stories.
“Slightly better,” she wrote. “Thanks to my tutor for helping me fix and to @kanenavasard for being a legend. And to my doctor for the [anesthetic] shots (no joke).”
However, her updated tattoo was still not quite right. The new one read, “Japanese BBQ finger.” In response to someone who told her she should apologize for using a foreign language purely for aesthetics, she tweeted (and since deleted) a response: “I also went back and got it fixed with the help of my tutor to be more accurate. I can’t read or write kanji obviously. what do you want me to do? it was done out of love and appreciation. what do you want me to say?”
“u know how many people make this mistake and DON'T care just cause they like how it looks?” she continued. “bruh...i care soooo much. what would you like me to do or say? forreal.”
She also made the point that she has removed all her merchandise that has Japanese writing on it. “There is a difference between appropriation and appreciation,” she tweeted. “My japanese fans were always excited when i wrote in japanese or wore japanese sayings on my clothing. however, all of the merch with japanese on it was taken down from my site not that anyone cared to notice.”
Earlier this year, Grande was criticized for cultural appropriation—specifically allegedly appropriating black culture and using the Japanese language in her “7 Rings” music video. She also came under fire for allegedly stealing the song itself from several artists.
The R&B track was heavily inspired by “My Favorite Things” from “The Sound of Music” and speaks to Grande’s strong friendships and new sense of independence following a difficult year that included the death of ex-boyfriend Mac Miller and her “whirlwind romance” with ex-fiancé Pete Davidson, reported Poeple.
“It was a...challenging fall day in New York,” she told the publication, likely referring to her breakup with Davidson. “Me and my friends went to Tiffany’s together, just because we needed some retail therapy.”
“You know when you’re waiting at Tiffany’s they give you lots of champagne? They got us very tipsy, so we bought seven engagement rings, and when I got back to the studio I gave everybody a friendship ring,” she explained. “That’s why we have these,” she said, while flashing a diamond ring on her right hand, “and that’s where the song idea came from.”
