OVER the years, Piers Morgan has not shied away when it comes to speaking his mind.
This ultimately led to a brief feud between him and Ariana Grande and now fans want to know what happened.
Piers Morgan and Ariana Grande beef explained
In November 2018, Morgan took to Twitter to express his opinions about a photo of the female pop quartet Little Mix.
In the tweet, he accused the group of stealing the picture idea from the Dixie Chicks’ 2003 nude Rolling Stone cover.
“Hey @LittleMix – when are you going to admit you stole this idea from @dixiechicks?” he wrote at the time.
The day prior, he took shots at Ellen DeGeneres for “drooling” over men’s bodies while promoting his exclusive International Men’s Day Daily Mail column.
Grande’s mother, Joan Grande, later responded to Morgan’s tweets, writing: “Honestly what is wrong with you @piersmorgan? Didn’t your mother ever teach you, if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say it! You came for @TheEllenShow yesterday which was disgraceful, she is an angel. @LittleMixtoday, did you ever hear of paying homage? And..well never mind.”
Joan’s response initiated a back-and-forth conversation between the two and Morgan quickly dragged Grande’s career into it.
“Hi Joan, my mother taught me to speak my mind & never be afraid to express honestly held opinion. Ellen’s a hypocrite – and as for Little Mix, I’d just prefer they use their talent to sell records rather than their nudity. As your own daughter does…!” Morgan wrote in a response to Joan’s tweet.
Grande then entered the mix and defended herself and DeGeneres.
“I use my talent and my sexuality all the time because I choose to,” Grande tweeted, via USA Today.
“Women can be sexual and talented. Naked and Dignified. It’s our choice. And we will keep fighting (until) people understand. I say this (with) all due respect but thank u, next.”
Morgan quickly responded to Grande, explaining that he will continue to call out celebrities if they use nudity to sell records.
“Hi Ariana! How lovely to hear from you so soon after your mother. Of course, women can do what they like – but if they/you use nudity to sell records to impressionable young female fans, I’ll continue to call them/you out on it. All due respect, but thank YOU. Next,” he wrote.
The Twitter exchange continued with Grande’s response, where she accused Morgan of using his comments to grow his career.
“I look forward to the day you realize there are other ways to go about making yourself relevant than to criticize young, beautiful, successful women for everything they do,” she wrote, via USA Today.
“I think that’ll be a beautiful thing for you and your career or what’s left of it.”
Morgan responded, explaining to Grande that his career was “doing just fine.”
“Now now, young lady – my career’s doing just fine thanks,” he wrote.
“For the record, I criticise/praise everyone – male, female, gender-fluid. Indeed, I’ve written columns praising AND criticising you, and you deserved both.”
In an attempt to shut down Morgan and his hypocrisy, Grande posted an older picture of him posing in front of a fireplace partially naked, writing, “When you do it, it’s OK though, right?”
In response, Morgan jokingly asked if the picture was the pop stars screensaver, to which she responded, “nah and it ain’t your girl’s either, I can promise you that.”
Morgan then replied with laughing emojis, saying “Me think the lady doth protest too much.” He later invited her to appear on Good Morning Britain but the 7 Rings singer did not bite, USA Today reports.
Is there still beef between Piers Morgan and Ariana Grande?
While their beef might have played out live on social media, the two appear to have buried the hatchet.
In February 2019, Morgan went back to Twitter to inform fans that there is no longer bad blood between them.
“So… we bumped into each other in a LA restaurant, she joined me for ‘a chat’ & 2 hours later we were still chatting,” he wrote alongside a selfie of him and Grande.
“We laughed, we argued, she cried, I nearly did, the drinks flowed & we bonded. Turns out we really like each other. Weird. Thank u @ArianaGrande – next?”
In a separate tweet, he thanked Grande for a “great night.”
Grande later responded, writing, “thank u for some laughs and some v productive conversation ! it was nice bumping into u ! #FutureFeministPiers #FingersCrossed,” according to USA Today.
She later elaborated on their encounter in a separate tweet, writing: “well………… we bumped into each other. at a restaurant. and i decided to sit with him and we spoke for a while.
“I think some progress was made! turns out face to face discussions are a bit kinder and gentler, even if you do indeed disagree.”
Since their Los Angeles run-in, the pair appear to be on better terms.