Apparently licking a donut and making a quick, likely semi-ironic remark to a friend about hating America deserves self-disgust: given people’s policing of patriotism, pop star Ariana Grande has now felt the need to issue a second apology for what was essentially a moment of relatively innocuous (except for the potential germs, but oh well) immaturity. After her first statement, in which she was contrite but used the moment to discuss the issue of childhood obesity, she’s now seemingly been bullied into to go full-force in the opposite direction, saying she’s “never felt prouder” to be an American. Hopefully, Grande will soon have to stop feeling “disgusted” with herself, because there are far, far worse things a musician could do than lick a donut — like defend the Confederate flag and say protestors can “kiss [your] ass,” as Kid Rock has reportedly done.
In other news of things that are currently askew in America, Republicans in Wisconsin are rallying for the legalization of seven-day workweeks. Meanwhile, movie franchises don’t seem to know when to give everyone a break, and pop stars don’t know when to give texting a break. But all those problems are petty, let’s recall, because Ariana Grande apologized twice for licking a donut.
‘The Empathy Exams’ Author Leslie Jamison
Meanwhile, for as long as we can, we’ll always find our diversions, like conceptually decorated bars, prestige musicals, and apocalyptic cinema, which Leslie Jamison and Ryan Spencer explore in their interview in Electric Literature. Here, they discuss onscreen cataclysms in conjunction with Spencer’s photo-essay on the subject (which is accompanied by writing by Jamison).