Ariana Grande has spoken out about a joke her fiancé Pete Davidson made about the Manchester terror attack last year.
Last May, 22 people were killed by a suicide bomber at Ariana’s concert in Manchester, and five months later – SNL comedian Pete made a joke about it at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles.
The 24-year-old, who famously jokes about the fact that his fireman dad died in the Twin Towers attack back in 2001, said Ariana must have realised how famous she had become because “Britney Spears didn’t have a terrorist attack at her concert”.
On onlooker at the stand-up gig told the Mirror, “It drew gasps from the crowd and everyone squirmed in their seats, the event five months earlier was still pretty fresh, and there were plenty of British tourists in the crowd.”
Three days after Pete’s insensitive Manchester bombing joke resurfaced, Ariana responded to a fan who asked why she is still engaged to him.
The fan tweeted, “I respect Ariana and I want her to be happy and everything, but she was just broken after the Manchester bombing, so I don’t know why she is still with Pete, like yeah he made that joke a while ago, but like it’s not funny, it’s just rude. This is my opinion.”
I respect Ariana and I want her to be happy and everything, but she was just broken after the Manchester bombing, so I don’t know why she is still with Pete, like yeah he made that joke a while ago, but like it’s not funny, it’s just rude. This is my opinion.
— oscar☁ (@ariissalegend) July 4, 2018
And Ariana responded, “This has been v tough & conflicting on my heart. he uses comedy to help ppl feel better ab how f-ed up things in this world are. we all deal w trauma differently.
She continued, “I of course didn’t find it funny. it was months ago & his intention wasn’t/ is never malicious but it was unfortunate.”
Meanwhile, a source close to Pete told PEOPLE, “The joke was taken out of context. He lost his dad in 9/11 and is close with other victims of violent tragedies. As a way of coping he turns to humor. …He’s obviously sensitive to tragedy as he lost his own father and his intention is to just make people laugh.”
this has been v tough & conflicting on my heart. he uses comedy to help ppl feel better ab how f-ed up things in this world are. we all deal w trauma differently. I of course didn’t find it funny. it was months ago & his intention wasn’t/ is never malicious but it was unfortunate
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) July 5, 2018
Ariana and Pete have hit headlines in recent weeks for their whirlwind romance.
The pair, who met in 2016 when she hosted Saturday Night Live, got engaged after just a few weeks of dating – and have since moved into their own place in New York.
The news comes just weeks after Ariana revealed that she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after the terror attack.
