Horror Comedy Icon Elvira Hasn’t Completely Forgiven Ariana Grande
Sorry, Ariana Grande, your beef with the Mistress of the Dark isn’t dead and buried yet.
The feud began a few years ago when Grande showed up for an Elvira show with 20 guests. Cassandra Peterson, real-life alter ego of sexy/spooky Elvira, turned over 21 tickets to Grande, soon to be a fellow witch courtesy of her starring role in Wicked.
Before the show, Grande brought her entourage backstage. “She asks if I can take pictures with all of her friends and relatives she brought,” Peterson said during a Q&A at Knott’s Scary Farm, an account of which she posted on her Instagram. “I take a picture with every single one of them, I sign autographs for every single one of them. Then I say to her, 'Can we take a photo together?’”
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Grande’s response: “No, I don’t really do that.”
To make matters worse, Grande allegedly left before Elvira’s show started. “All her relatives stayed,” Peterson claimed, “and she took off.”
After the Peterson Q&A went public, Grande apologized — sorta — by commenting on Elvira’s Instagram share, according to Entertainment Weekly.
“so disheartened to see this. I actually don’t even remember getting the chance to meet you because I had an anxiety attack and to my memory, left before the rest of my family (this was around 7 years ago and at the time I was really not great with being in public crowds or loud places.) if i’m misremembering this moment, i sincerely apologize for offending you so. thank you for being so nice to my mom, she told me how lovely you were (she might have different feelings about that now but i’ll talk to her… clearly, we all have our days!)”
Grande wrapped up her mea culpa with a cheerful, “you’ll always be our queen of halloween!”
A year after the apology, Patterson tells Entertainment Weekly that Grande’s explanation doesn’t sit quite right. “What’s the word? You know, where you do something, but you really have other thoughts in mind? Like, ‘Thank you, not really, thank you,’” Peterson said about her reaction to the apology. “In particular, a sincere ‘I’m sorry’ wouldn’t include a line about ‘her mom used to really like me, but maybe not now.’”
“clearly, we all have our days!” also qualifies as a backhanded smack.
Peterson confirmed she never heard from Grande beyond the Instagram comment. “After that response from her, no, I just let the whole thing drop,” confirmed the Horror Hostess with the Mostess. “I told a story that really happened. She did it. I wasn’t making it up.”
“It was very offensive,” she continued. “All the celebrities who I had ever come to my show — and there was a ton — were always gracious and kind, and, um, she was not. I’m sorry to say that. It’s disappointing when you hear things like that, and learn things like that. It’s sad. But, oh well.”
Some free advice, Ariana Grande — if you’re going to be rude, maybe pick someone who can’t retaliate with a hex?
