Ariana Grande is saying “thank u, next” to the new trend of “impersonating” her on TikTok. In a since-deleted Instagram story, Grande shared actor and writer Jordan Firstman’s “Impression of a Meme” video to call out TikTokers who have earned huge followings just for impersonating her. “Omg can this please also double as your impression of the pony tail Tik Tok girls who think doing the cat valentine voice and that wearing winged eyeliner and a sweatshirt is doing a good impersonation of me …” she responded with a couple of crying emojis and quoting the video. “Cause this really how it feels … ‘Degrading it’s entire value’ I screamed.” Tell us how you really feel, Ari.
Grande apparently related to Firstman’s video where he “impersonates” memes that are stripped from their original context and assigned “a completely arbitrary meaning,” dismissing the original artist and “degrading its entire value.” (Not to mention, it’s typically all done without permission from the original creator.) Ari also seems to be mad that the impersonations are confusing her and Cat Valentine, the character she played on Nickelodeon’s Victorious and Sam and Cat as a teenager. The singer has addressed in the past how she was weirded out by her most successful impersonator, Paige Niemann, combining Cat Valentine’s voice with her current look, tweeting “i just wonder whyyyy the cat voice / dialogue. i am sure she is the sweetest sweet sweetheart forreal !! but it’s [definitely] bizarre seeing people blend the two worlds lmao.” So it looks like from now on, all Ariana Grande impersonations should be My Everything–era or above. Niemann, however, said she was “used to Ariana shading” her on an Instagram Live Thursday, after Grande posted the story. “It’s kind of why I’m not a fan of her anymore, honestly,” she added. Is Ariana Grande in a feud … with herself? What chaos will TikTok bring next?