Ariana Grande Has Seen Your TikTok Impersonations, And She's Not A Fan

Along with videos of cats, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and a myriad of everyday life hacks, TikTok users love doing impressions of Ariana Grande. Unfortunately, the pop star isn't exactly thrilled with the comparisons. In a now deleted post on her Instagram Story, which was made on April 22, Grande addressed the TikTok trend of acting like her, calling it "degrading."

As reported by Seventeen, Grande specifically called attention to TikTok users that "think doing that Cat Valentine voice and that wearing winged eyeliner and a sweatshirt is doing a good impersonation of me." Cat Valentine was the name of Grande's breakout role in the Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious.

Her post came in response to an Instagram post first made my filmmaker and Jordan Firstman, sharing one video titled "This Is My Impersonation Of A Meme". In the video, Firstman jokingly questioned whether it was degrading to recontextualize a small "moment" from a movie or television series for the purpose of making a meme. Firstman argued that meme creators "put a completely arbitrary meaning onto that thing that the artist loves so much, kind of like degrading like its entire value."

Grande then posted the video to her Instagram Story, adding, "Omg can this please also double as your impression of the pony tail TikTok girls who think doing that Cat Valentine voice and that wearing winged eyeliner and a sweatshirt is doing a good impersonation of me...cause this really how it feels...'Degrading its entire value' I screamed."

Although Grande later deleted the post, fans screengrabbed the Story. And as Seventeen points out, Grande hasn't exactly spoken favorably of impersonations of her in the past. Back in November, she called one viral impression of her "bizarre," writing, "I just wonder whyyyy the cat voice / dialogue. i am sure she is the sweetest sweet sweetheart forreal !! but it’s definitley bizarre seeing people blend the two worlds lmao."

For her post made on Wednesday, Grande didn't specifically call attention to or mention any TikTok users by name, but the trend is quite popular on the platform. Under the #ArianaGrande hashtag on TikTok, users often post videos of themselves wearing long-sleeved shirts, completing everyday tasks as Grande. And while these posts do garner likes and interaction from the video community, it's obvious, at least based on Wednesday's comment, that Grande doesn't share the love.