Ariana Grande Announces She's Dropping Out Of West End Musical To Take 'Step Back From Visibility' After Intense Public Scrutiny

Singer and actor Ariana Grande has been working relatively non-stop since she was a teenager, making her stage debut on Broadway in 2008 and her television debut on Nickelodeon in 2010.

In the last 18 years, she's released eight studio albums, starred in two television shows and two TV movies, appeared on and hosted Saturday Night Live four times, starred in four films, and had five concert tours.

On May 22, 2017, her Dangerous Woman Tour concert stop at the Manchester Arena in England was attacked by suicide bombers who killed 22 people and injured over 1,000 others.

After finishing press for her latest film, Wicked for Good, and completing her latest tour, the Eternal Sunshine Tour, Grande was slated to star in the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George in London's West End.

But on August 2 in an exclusive statement to People magazine, a representative for Grande said the performer will be "taking a step back from visibility," citing the intense "endless, ongoing public scrutiny" about her health and her body that Grande faces.

You can read the full statement, shared on by Variety magazine here:

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The statement read:

"Ariana will be taking a step back from visibility after she completes the 'Eternal Sunshine Tour.'”

“She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny."

"This tour has been a beautiful experience for her. She loves her fans and has loved every minute of this tour so much."

A source close to Grande elaborated that the tour is very physically demanding, saying:

"She performs a very physical show, and there is a lot of athleticism involved. She performs healthily and successfully at a very high level night after night."

Grande addressed her plans before her Chicago concert audience at the United Center, saying:

"The announcement is not a reactive or impulsive thing. It’s a plan that I quietly made a long time ago. It’s a decision that was made from a thoughtful and empowered place."

Fan reaction online was mixed, with some angrily accusing the performer and her representatives of "gaslighting" her fans.

Others said such demands to know personal details about a star's health or body shaming comments just proved why Grande needed to step away.

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Grande is not the first performer to address public commentary about their bodies or health. While fans may claim concern, do performers owe the public their medical history?

When actor Chadwick Boseman was dealing with terminal cancer, public speculation ran rampant. After his death, several of his costars condemned the online gossip, rumors and speculation. When Selena Gomez's weight was picked apart, she felt forced to disclose her lupus diagnosis and kidney transplant.

More recently, Jack Osbourne, who has relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS), addressed toxic fan comments about his and his family members' weight loss after his father's death.