RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 4 sourcesAriana Grande is weeding people’s criticisms out of her life — literally. In the music video for “Petal,” the title track of her new album that dropped on Friday (July 31), the Wicked actress reclaims her narrative by taking a garden chainsaw to a group of executives who have a little too much to say about her.
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The visual — shot entirely on VistaVision, a 1950s cinematic format — opens with Grande in character as Pepper, an aspiring star who sits among dozens of other hopefuls inside the fictional Fame INC. headquarters to audition for a panel of older men in suits. She leaves disappointed, however, after they hand her an evaluation sheet stamped “Not good enough.”
Accepting their feedback, Grande returns à la Sandy from the end of Grease , sporting a black bodysuit and red lip. Alas, the men’s evaluation is equally harsh the second time around — “NO SEX APPEAL! Should get some work done” — and so she returns in a new costume with visibly artificial breasts bulging out of a low-cut cow-print dress, which the executives label “DESPERATE.”
After several rounds, Pepper returns one last time, during which one of the men cuts her off mid-song and tells her: “You give off this feeling that is completely … what’s the word? Inauthentic.”
“The way you used to be, I miss that,” another says ruthlessly, echoing the real-life critiques Grande has received from the public — and parts of her own fanbase — for years. “Do you got some personality disorder going on?”
Deciding that enough is enough, the Grammy winner pulls out the chainsaw and hacks away at the men, returning to the lobby covered in blood as the other women clap and cheer. At the end, it’s revealed that the entire sequence has been a performance as well, with Pepper, finally a star, playing the lead in a movie — possibly hinting that Grande will never really be done searching for applause.
“Petal” marks the second single from Petal , which comes two years after Grande’s three-week Billboard 200 -topper Eternal Sunshine . She previously released “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” which was also accompanied by a music video and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 .
The vocalist is currently on tour in support of the 2024 album, recently stopping in Montreal, where she debuted “Petal” live on stage. She’ll next play a few shows in Chicago before closing out with a 10-night stay at the O2 Arena in London.
Watch the “Petal” music video above.
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