By Dory Jackson
Culture Reporter
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Ariana Grande set the record straight on Tuesday after fans speculated about whether she disclosed a detail in regard to her sexuality in new her single, "Monopoly."
Grande, 25, dropped "Monopoly" on Monday. She teamed up with close pal Victoria Monét to make the track. One line, in particular, caught the attention of Arianators who suspected whether the Nickelodeon alum came out as bisexual.
"I like women and men," Grande sings. This line was also sung earlier in the track by Monét, who revealed she was bisexual on Twitter back in November. At the time, she opened up to fans about how she just experienced a rough breakup. "I want everyone to know that I'm single (since people wanna pretend I'm not) and make imaginary rules for me," the singer tweeted. "I secretly and respectfully went through a difficult break up this summer but enough is enough. I also like girls. Thank U, Next. Bye."
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Taking Monét's earlier reveal into consideration, Arianators debated over whether the "I like women and men" line in "Monopoly" was true for Grande as well. Amid the wave of speculation that surfaced via social media on Monday, one fan tweeted how Grande "ain't gotta label herself, but she said what she said." This tweet caught Grande's attention and led her to reply directly to the fan's tweet.
"I haven't before and still don't feel the need to now which is okay," Grande tweeted. Within this thread, the same fan shared a screengrab of another fan asking via Instagram whether Grande was "bi or nah." Monét replied to the fan's Instagram inquiry, writing: "she said what she said."
Grande also sparked conversation about her sexuality back in February, when she released her "Break Up With Your Boyfriend, I'm Bored" music video. Her character appeared to be pining after a boy, played by Riverdale's Charles Melton, despite him being in a relationship with another woman who appeared to resemble Grande. By the video's end, Grande is the same pool as Melton's character and his girlfriend, played by Ariel Yasmine, as she stares at them from afar. Grande swims toward them, but pushes Melton aside to kiss Yasmine—a moment that was cut off for dramatic effect.
Grande was accused of queerbaiting in "Break Up With Your Boyfriend, I'm Bored." Queerbaiting is defined as hinting at a same-sex relationship to attract an LGBTQ audience in various forms of media. Some fans also accused Grande, who will headline Manchester Pride in August, of doing the same with "Monopoly." One fan urged for Grande to "stop queerbaiting and treating bisexuality like it's some cute f***in joke" whereas a second suggested she's either "bi or queerbaiting."
"While it is absolutely valid to keep your identity ambiguous and stray from labels, when it's being presented in such a fashion it can come off as queerbaiting," a third fan tweeted. "The way Ariana speaks about this kind of thing always tends to insinuate, but never flat out confirm."
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