Ariana Grande on Defending Female Pop Stars and Staying Away From Drama.

in 2016, Ariana Grande has confronted her critics (lampooning Doughnutgate on ‘SNL’) and asserted her feminism (quoting Steinem, calling out sexists) as she grapples with pop stardom: ‘People are unafraid to hurt you’

While it boasts five bedrooms, marble floors and a huge window overlooking beautiful Benedict Canyon, the Beverly Hills home Ariana Grande moved into last summer lacks any kind of decor — unless you count the picture frames leaning against a nearby wall, their corners still wrapped in cardboard. On this Monday afternoon in April, Grande sits in a plush white chair at the head of her sprawling dining room table. She’s wearing a plain black top, black stretchy pants and unmarked black sneakers, and her hair hangs over her chest in two loosely braided ropes. A MacBook, iPhone, bottle of water and Starbucks iced coffee sit before her. It’s as if a Hollywood pitch meeting is about to break out — an impression that’s reinforced when she offers a one-sentence summary of Dangerous Woman, her third album, throatily enunciating each syllable: “A 22-year-old girl comes into her own trying to balance growing up, love and a lot of other bullshit along the way.”

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