Ariana Grande is in the news following the announcement of her breakup with Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson. Grande was raised Catholic, but turned away from the religion because of the theology regarding homosexuality, in solidarity with her gay brother, Frankie. She now studies kabbalah and has been reported to call herself Jewish. What is another Jewish connection in Ariana Grande’s life?
Ariana Grande by Emma is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
A. Movie and television executive Steve Tisch, also an owner of the New York Giants, first came to know Ariana Grande when she was on the Nickolodeon show Victorious, where she played the part of Cat Valentine. Tisch was a producer on that show, and later asked Grande to sing the National Anthem for the Giants opening game of the 2016 season. In 2017, Tisch hired Grande to perform as the entertainment at the bar mitzvah of his grandson, Jason, which took place at MetLife Stadium, home field of the Giants.
B. Grande grew up in Florida, where she attended the bar and bat mitzvahs of many of her friends, even singing in Hebrew on the bima at her best friend’s bat mitzvah.
C. One of Grande’s first performing roles was as a cast member of the Broadway show 13, a show about a Jewish boy, Evan, who moves from New York to a small town in Indiana, shortly before his bar mitzvah. Evan struggles to make new friends (including Charlotte, the cheerleader played by Grande) who will come to his bar mitzvah party.
D. Grande was invited to perform in Tel Aviv at a concert in Hayarkon Park in 2016. She wasn’t sure if she should accept this engagement, as she received pressure from people involved in the BDS movement, who threatened a boycott if she sang in Israel. However, Grande had recently begun dating rapper Mac Miller, who was Jewish, and he convinced her to make the trip. The concert was attended by more than 45,000 people.
E. Grande’s best friend growing up was the granddaughter of Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks. Schultz met Grande at his granddaughter’s bat mitzvah party, where Ariana sang a song for her best friend. Schultz went on to name the 16 ounce size of coffee at Starbucks after Ariana.