Madison Beer was left devastated over the backlash she received for claiming Ariana Grande wanted her to cameo in the Thank U, Next video.
Ariana’s 2018 music video was directed by Hannah Lux Davis, and featured Jennifer Coolidge, Colleen Ballinger, Jonathan Bennett and Kris Jenner but Madison claims people were “hating on me and ripping me apart” after she revealed Ariana tried to get her to participate but scheduling conflicts stopped her.
Speaking on Owen Thiele’s In Your Dreams podcast, Madison, 27, explained: “It really was that serious. But you have to [understand] that back then it was not received well. People were hating on me and ripping me apart for it and saying I was the cringiest person alive. Why would I lie about it?
“The truth is, I was just overly excited about it. I was surrounded by fans who were being so sweet and supportive. Thank U, Next had just come out and I thought I was spilling tea. I like, ‘Guys, I was supposed to be in the video.’ I didn’t know that it was just going to be this pivotal moment in my life that I could never come back from.”
And, Madison was upset that people would accuse her of lying.
She said: “That felt so crazy that people were accusing my character of just making that up. Then there was like, I was going to post proof. When I was younger, I was so mad that people thought I was lying.
“It was kind of sad. It was a good learning curve for me though, because I feel like I was able to be like, ‘It doesn’t really matter what people think.’ I never posted proof. I was like, ‘You know what? I’m going to let go.’”
Thank U, Next debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 2018, with the music video released a few weeks later.
It contained references to classic teen comedies such as Bring It On, Mean Girls, 13 Going on 30 and Legally Blonde.
Madison is currently on the European leg of her Locket Tour, while Wicked star Ariana Grande will kick off her Eternal Sunshine Tour on June 6 at Oakland Arena in California.