Piers Morgan and Ariana Grande got into a public argument concerning remarks he made about Little Mix. Morgan had slammed the girl group's choice to pose naked with insults scribbled on their bodies in a music video, calling the concept a "crude, cynical sexual exploitation designed purely to sell records." Grande shot back via Twitter, in true feminist form. She accused him of trying to stay relevant by attacking young women she considered to be "sexual AND talented." The pair managed to patch things up in person since then. Piers shared how it all went down in a column published by Daily Mail.
His account begins with a description of their initial exchange after bumping into each other on a Tuesday night at the Ocean Prime steakhouse in Beverly Hills.
‘ARIANA?’
The biggest pop star on the planet (in terms of success, not her diminutive stature) stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face me.
‘Piers Morgan,’ I clarified as she peered towards me, bemused.
‘Piers…Morgan…’ she repeated, slowly. ‘Oh. My. God.’
I’ve been called worse.
It was an unlikely setting for a peace summit.
They went back and forth about the implications of slamming women's fashion choices. Morgan eventually mentioned how Kim Kardashian literally built her brand on sexual provocation and nudity for the sake of self-promotion.
"Ok, but you were so wrong about Little Mix. I toured with those girls and I understood exactly what they were doing and saying," Ariana said in reference to the group's "Stripped" video clip. "They were standing up for all girls who’ve been called those horrible names, and saying it doesn’t matter what people call you, you should feel proud of yourself and your body, and strong. I felt that when I saw their photo."
The pop star was prompted to go on. "I used to be called all those horrible names myself, long before I was famous or even an adult. So with respect, I can relate to what young girls go through far better than you," she continued
"I accept that. But I have a 7-year-old daughter, I don’t want her thinking nudity is the route to success. That is my concern," Piers replied.
"I understand that, I do," she said, "But you should want your daughter to grow up believing she is free to do what she wants with her body and with her life."
"I do, but whilst I believe you when you say YOU don’t use nudity or sex as a cynical commercial tool, and that for you it is a form of art attached to your performing, there are some other female stars who I am damn sure do."
"I agree," she offered. "See, I AGREE. We’ve reached common ground again. Let’s get another drink to celebrate."
Ariana Grande and Piers continued to chat about radical feminism. "You know what else really p****d me off?" Piers said. ‘When “Baby It’s Cold Outside” was banned by some American radio stations for supposedly representing sexual assault. That’s bullsh*t." The mention brought tears to Ariana's eyes. She explained why the song was so special to her and showed Piers a recorded rendition of the track, a collaboration with Mac Miller.
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