Ariana Grande: “I’ve Actually Never Been Prouder To be An American”

Earlier this week, the world got pretty confused about leaked donut store surveillance footage that showed popstar Ariana Grande licking donuts that didn't belong to her, before proclaiming "I hate America." As outrage brewed—with reports that she was being investigated by local police for what was classified as a "malicious lick"—Grande issued a statement to Associated Press, apologizing for her behaviour and clarifying her comments: "The fact that the United States has one of the highest child obesity rates in the world frustrates me. We need to do more to educate ourselves and our children about the dangers of overeating."

Last night, Grande decided a further apology was necessary, and uploaded the above video to her Youtube channel to address the controversy directly. “It has not been an easy 24 hours,” says the singer, speaking with puffy cheeks from wisdom tooth surgery. “It’s been rough. I made a mistake and I am being judged for it.”

Addressing her comments on America, she states: "I’ve actually never been prouder to be an American, to be honest with you. Advances that we’ve made in the past couple of months and all the wonderful progressive things that have been going on, I’ve never been prouder of this country, actually."

“Here I am apologizing to you all," she adds, "because seeing a video of yourself behaving poorly—that you have no idea was taken—is such a rude awakening, that you don’t know what to do. I was so disgusted with myself.”

Watch the full statement above.

Lead photo credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images