Ariana Grande Rejects Reported Million-Dollar Offer to Remove Flawed Japanese Tattoo
Ariana Grande is still attempting to fix her new tattoo after learning that what she thought said “7 rings” in Japanese actually meant “small, charcoal grill.”
The pop star, 25, posted a series of since-deleted tweets in response to a TMZ story that reported LaserAway had sent Grande a $1.5 million offer to remove her tattoo for free and become a paid spokesperson for the company. (Grande’s manager Scooter Braun told TMZ that they had “not received this letter.”)
As it turns out, Grande has an offer of her own: “I’ll give y’all a million to get off my nuts,” she tweeted on Saturday. (A rep for LaserAway could not be immediately reached for comment.)
Grande then embarked on a long thread defending her tattoo, which she had intended to name after her most recent single, “7 Rings.”
Responding to a fan, Grande said that she “went back and got it fixed with the help of my tutor to be more accurate… What do you want me to say?”
“U kno how many people make this mistake and DON’T care just cause they like how it looks? Bruh….. I care sooo much. What would u like me to do or say? Forreal.”
RELATED: Ariana Grande Updated Her Japanese Tattoo Typo — But It’s Still Not Quite Right
“I have crippling anxiety lol,” Grande continued. “I don’t like hurtin ppl. People on this app really don’t know how to be forgiving or gentle when someone has made an innocent mistake. No one considers feelings other than their own. It’s very pointless.”
“There’s a difference between appropriation and appreciation,” she added. “My Japanese fans were always excited when I wrote in Japanese or wore Japanese sayings on my clothing. However, all of the merch with Japanese on it was taken down from my site not that anyone cared to notice.”
“I try. I’m made of love and nothing else,” Grande finished. “I jus wanna sing, man. Wake me up when tour starts.”
Grande embraced the mistake, joking that she was a “huge fan of tiny BBQ grills” in a since-deleted tweet.
She then apologized for the blunder (“tryna learn here“) and consulted with a Japanese-fluent friend to fix it, documenting their conversations in a series of Instagram Stories.
RELATED: Ariana Grande Officially Announces the Release Date and Track List of New Album Thank U, Next
“Slightly better,” she wrote on the photo. “Thanks to my tutor for helping me fix and to @kanenavasard for being a legend. And to my doctor for the [anesthetic] shots (no joke).”
Of course, Grande couldn’t leave off her note without a mention of her former tattoo’s meaning. “RIP tiny charcoal grill,” she said. “Miss you man. I actually really liked you.”
But a Japanese speaker clarified to PEOPLE that her tattoo fix still wasn’t quite right, as from left to right it says “small charcoal grill” and from top to bottom it says “seven fingers.”
Earlier this month, the Grammy nominee released her newest single “7 Rings” from her upcoming fifth album, thank u, next, out Feb. 8. The R&B track was heavily inspired by “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music and speaks to Grande’s strong friendships and new sense of independence following a difficult year that included the death of ex-boyfriend Mac Miller and her whirlwind romance with ex-fiancé Pete Davidson.
Grande first opened up about the inspiration behind “7 Rings” in her Billboard “Woman of the Year” cover story in December.
“It was a… challenging fall day in New York,” Grande told the music magazine of writing the track, likely alluding to her the aftermath of her breakup with Davidson. “Me and my friends went to Tiffany’s together, just because we needed some retail therapy.”
“You know how when you’re waiting at Tiffany’s they give you lots of champagne? They got us very tipsy, so we bought seven engagement rings, and when I got back to the studio I gave everybody a friendship ring,” she explained. “That’s why we have these, and that’s where the song idea came from.”
