The first rule of talking to Ariana Grande is: Do not ask questions that may be of any interest to the public.
According to News Corp Australia, before the 21-year-old singer recently canceled a string of photo shoots and interviews with a group of Australian media, Grande's reps gave press strict instructions to avoid questions related to specific topics.
Apparently, it would be a "Problem" for reporters to inquire about:
- Relationships/Dating/Ex-boyfriends
- Mariah Carey
- "Sam & Cat"/former co-star Jennette McCurdy
- Working/collaborating with Justin Bieber
- Her grandfather passing away
The singer also allegedly requested she only be photographed on her left side. The Australian news site reports that Grande's first sitting for mX newspaper was a "stop-start affair, with the singer checking each frame after it was taken and asking for shots she wasn’t pleased with to be deleted."
Grande reportedly kept everyone waiting for 20 minutes while she went to change outfits, before one of her reps returned and demanded that the photographer delete all his photos. When the photographer refused, the singer apparently canceled all remaining interviews and photo shoots she had scheduled for the day.
HuffPost Entertainment's request to Grande's reps for comment has yet to be returned at this time, but if they did prohibit reporters from asking the singer about any of the aforementioned topics, it's probably for the best that she canceled all of the interviews.
If you can't ask Grande about her rumored romance with Big Sean or her scrapped Nickelodeon show, do we really need to hear about how her mother worried she'd might grow up to be a serial killer, again?
UPDATE: Ariana Grande addressed the negative press she's been getting during an interview on an Australian radio show on Monday, telling Mike E and Emma on 96.1, she didn't abruptly end a photo shoot with a photographer, as previously reported.
"It was just a photographer or something who got mad at me because I left to change my outfit mid photo shoot because I didn't like my top. I was like, 'Oh, I'll be right back!' and then I came back and he had left. I was like, 'Oh, shit!' And then he came out and said all these ridiculous untrue things about me. I was like, 'That's not real. That's nonsense!'"
Meanwhile, Grande's manager Scooter Braun defended his client as well.
"@ArianaGrande is kind, caring, and more than anything she is a great human being. Some people make up rumors for a living....so saying things about Ari comes with her now being a big star. But saying she isn't a good person that ain't gonna fly," Braun wrote on Twitter. "Just yesterday she did an impromptu meet and greet for all her fans that almost got her kicked out of her hotel after a 14 hour work day. Why? Because she knows u care so she does too. There is Zero truth to anything different. Enough is enough."
While Grande may not be the diva she was made out to be, you still probably can't ask her anything interesting.