Ariana Grande is taking time for some self-care after she and S.N.L. cast member
Pete Davidson called off their engagement over the weekend. In a message to her followers on
Instagram, Grande posted a video explaining that she’ll be going on a
social media hiatus.
“Time to say bye bye again to the internet for just a lil bit,” she said. “It’s hard not to bump news n stuff that I’m not trying to see rn. It’s very sad and we’re all tryin very hard to keep going. love u. and thank u for bein here always.”
It’s been a trying few months for the singer, who announced her engagement to Davidson back in June, shortly after the couple began dating. Last month, Grande’s ex-boyfriend, Mac Miller, died of a drug overdose, leading her to take a professional break.
“Given the events of the past couple of years, Ariana is going to take some much-needed time to heal and mend,” a spokesperson for Grande told People last month. “She will be staying close to home and using this period to spend time with her loved ones and work on new music without deadline. She thanks her fans for their understanding.”
Grande’s announcement is a refreshing contrast to other celebrities who have recently tried to break ties with social media. After a string of public outbursts, Kanye West abruptly deleted his accounts earlier this month, only to re-activate his Twitter one week later with a series of bizarre Periscope videos. Davidson has also been known to wipe out his Instagram presence at random, only to come back shortly thereafter.
Still, there are some celebrities who take a much more standard break from social media, walking away from the platform, but leaving the door open to return. Demi Lovato, who has been open about her struggles with addiction and mental health, has taken multiple breaks from her Twitter and Instagram accounts, most recently after her alleged opioid overdose in July. Daisy Ridley has also been candid about her relationship with social media, ultimately shutting down her accounts in 2017, telling Radio Times that she believes it’s “highly unhealthy for people’s mental health.“
Grande’s decision to “say bye bye” seems more considered than, say, deleting everything and starting over, even as everyone knows you can’t resist returning. With her next public appearance set for October 29, when she’ll perform as part of a televised special in honor of Wicked, she doesn't need social media to keep herself in the public eye, anyway.