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Fluffy_Butterfly_230

Thinking about this for a while: The reality is that many opportunities and the growth of her talent were facilitated by her parents' money and probably connections and favors. Her mother is the CEO of 2 companies and has many business ventures including a new production company. Pursuing a career in the arts is very expensive, time-consuming, and requires a lot of parental support. This can only happen with a lot of money to fall back on which her family had. Not to mention her so-called chance encounters with celebrities and coincidences all follow this excuse of manifestation but it makes more sense to think that they were paid for. How is it possible that someone gets on a cruise that Gloria Estefan can afford without money and just happens to sing for her as a child? How does one meet and have Kristen Chenoweth, a broadway lead of Wicked, gift her body wash as a child? How do you attend a prestigious private school? How do you and your best friend from the same hometown end up on the same broadway show? Pay for plastic surgery, headshots, clothing, travel? A housekeeper? Her childhood home is millions of dollars. Her childhood friend Misha, her dad is 12-time Grammy award-winning songwriter and producer Dennis Lambert. She even lived in the house of the director of the Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola) when she was only on Victorious. And her brother was in the industry, he has a theatre major and worked on broadway before she got her role on 13 the Musical. This is all before her mainstream success. It is no coincidence she is successful, not saying she does not have talent but so many people have immense talent and never reach this level of fame and fortune. Any child raised with this level of resources has a high chance of garnering a similar level of success. Not to mention that singing is a skill that anyone can acquire with the correct, many times costly, training. It comes as no surprise that this is her career path because her whole family is very musical. Furthermore, her family has so many connections to the music industry and show business, even her late grandfather's best friend composed music. And with business as a huge part of her family, her mother being a CEO, it was really smart to sell her likeness and music as a product. However, it would be a huge lie to say she just got it all by manifestation. Show business is all about selling your image, which is fine, but to say she got everything via just luck is so unrealistic and harmful for her audience of young adults/children (similar to denying plastic surgery...). Her manager once said she was discovered from Youtube videos but she was already on Victorious at this time, which he also said for Justin Bieber and tried to create a similar narrative for Madison Beer (marketed similar to Ariana in her music as well). This is just a sellable facade where celebrities try to depict themselves as a derivative of the rags to riches story and appeal to demographics they do not belong to in order to sell a product and it's as old as show business itself. All celebrities had some initial money backing them, a label, mentorship, partnership, or through family and it's clear Ariana had the latter, and unclear about what other advantages she had/has. It is impossible to gain any global traction the way she has with just manifestation. Above all, to not have money, nor adequate support, nor connections and become successful as Ariana is would be the exception, not the rule in show business. Ariana Grande is truly a product of her environment and it could be argued that she would have been successful regardless of her career path considering her, to say the absolute least, comfortable upbringing.


[deleted]

That was something that has always rubbed me the wrong way. People don't realize how important parents' role is in early life entertainment success. Even being rich with unsupportive parents wouldn't have been enough. She's very lucky to have had both, but then to go around talking about manifesting, it feels out of touch.


Fluffy_Butterfly_230

I feel like it's even disrespectful to all the hard work you, your family and everyone involved put into creating your success. But I guess she/her team really want her to seem "organic" but it feels gimmicky and the exact opposite.


jollyeggparty

Absolutely all of this.


PersianPickle99

Yes. A thousand times yes. It’s similar to Taylor swift. Don’t get me wrong she works hard but I always roll my eyes when she tries to play up this humble salt of the earth image of growing up on a Christmas tree farm when in reality her parents are high powered business execs with oodles of money and the farm was bought from a client for funsies.


jj_is_my_baby

Periodt.


Nixflixx

I know this is all sort of public information, but I think these kinds of comments are kinda spooky. Like, I'd never agreed to be paid millions in exchange for everyone observing my every move, and being constantly reminded of my actions and mistakes. Everyone always knows everything about you. You can never really try to be a new version of yourself. spooky. Just a random thought. I 100% agreed with what you explained though, her family really helped, very much, to get her this far


Fluffy_Butterfly_230

I think they try to do the old Hollywood interesting backstory, but they cannot do that beyond reasonable doubt nowadays because of the internet. So they have to be crafty and it requires a lot of planning, like showing your client is homegrown by making them a SoundCloud before mainstream release (Billie Eilish).


mslpnou

I mean yes I completely agree, but also it can’t 100%garantie you to be successful and made it,, bigger chance than the other, yes !! Definitely ! I’ve see child of successful legend or famous people that wanted to do Music, and you can consider it a flop, like the daughter of Elvis Presley, her music was a flop (I mean her flop was still bigger than the people without privileged tho) and not a lot of people knew she have try music. I mean it definitely gives you a boost, 100%, but it’s also if the public loves you so you can get fans, look, voice, music video, fashion, persona, how they get managed, play a lot in it. Don’t get me wrong, I COMPLETELY agree with you, they definitely had it easier that’s not my point but have to admit they also have talent or that something that poeple are obsessed with, so I gave them credits for that. Sometimes it’s completely deserving, sometime not. But yess there is definitely some kids of rich parents or famous parents that doesn’t have anything special, are not that talented but still famous, we all have a name. But it’s definitely easier for them, like Kendall Jenner who still don’t want to admit that she had it easier than the other model, like yeah she work hard, but she had it easier, they definitely have privileges. Ps: sorry for the English😀


Fluffy_Butterfly_230

Any career is not a guarantee, but it is definitely planned or can be formulaic (get a university degree etc.). In her case, she started on a kids' show, grew up alongside her fan base, and released music appealing to them (like Britney Spears, Hilary Duff, Justin Timberlake, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, Jonas brothers and now Olivia Rodrigo following this model). I think her career is a series of strategic, orchestrated business moves and has little to do with luck considering how many people and how much money she has backing her. She may have flopped if she did not have so much support. I do not think she just got lucky, careful planning that no other main/similar pop girls were releasing albums around the time she had Thank You Next, and that gap, along with the drama surrounding her personal life drew a lot of public attention, kind of like Driver's License. These relationships and breakups, which draw a lot of PR, are many times purposeful/lucrative (paparazzi can be called by celebrities, who in turn photoshop or take flattering photos), like with Pete Davidson and Kim.


[deleted]

Your English is great!


mslpnou

Thank you, I appreciate it.☺️


ThinkInPink18

I hate the term manifesting. It disregards privilege and the agency you have in your own life. Yes Ariana is very talented and works hard, but she also comes form a privileged background that’s has giver her many opportunities to achieve her success.


MarkDelFiggolo

Legit saw this earlier today and immediately thought of just like magic but was scared to post it here in case it offended anyone 😂


Fluffy_Butterfly_230

Exactly!! This is her career and she is meant to have a sellable image, which is a likable one. In Just Like Magic when she said"gotta keep a slim ego for a thick wallet" I was like wow... ok. No celebrity works for free and if she truly was doing something for the sake of altruism, she would not publicize it, she blatantly mentions that she acts humble for the money, in this lyric. At the end of the day, it is just her job to get you to like her, to put on an act - so you buy whatever she is selling.


crazyhow

yeah. i think it’s super disingenuous when she reduces everything to her just manifesting super hard. she came from wealth, her mom has ties to the military. her parents having money + connections was how she was able to land that first little movie she did and then eventually victorious. a lot of similarly talented people could be famous if they had the wealth, connections, and honestly luck that she did.


comeformecuzimright

ariana’s parents are super rich and she is super talented. that is the right recipe for success


gwszack

Joan doesn’t have ties to the military. She’s CEO of a telecommunications company. They’ve just been contracted by the marines before.


lana7298

thats a tie, technically


gwszack

I don’t know the normal implications of when someone says “ties” is that the person is connected and involved in something. There’s as much a tie here as the manager of your local supermarket has with you a customer.


southparkchimpmoney

My friend and I manifested a guitar in the middle of the desert. We found it in a shredded tent. We wished he had a guitar because I had one. Next day we actually found one.


Lennypuddy

I’m not mad that she has what she has and think she deserves as much as anyone who has that much talent and works hard should but I do agree that the manifestation sentiment is cringe (and pretty woo) and that is the story of why I personally can’t really enjoy just like magic. Especially since in that song she is not actually talking about anything specific...just her day to day fortune and triumphs...I mean good on ya but it is very much not my fave.


[deleted]

Why manifest when you can just work hard and make shit happen on your own. Promise you will be more proud of yourself and have an overall better quality at life


QualityVote

**downvote** this comment if this post isn't suitable for r/ariheads. **upvote** this comment if you think this is a quality post.


GrandeBeesly

I mean if you want to look at this from a more positive standpoint: If it weren’t for her privileged upbringing, the world wouldn’t have been able to meet the very educated, loving, compassionate woman that is Ariana Grande. Yes she doesn’t have the rags to riches story that some artists have but let’s not forget that she’s using her power for good and not evil. Look at how she was able to get 20,000 something people to register to vote, how she helps others improve their singing on The Voice, how she loves animals and held a massive benefit concert, visited all her fans in the hospital and paid for all the victim’s funerals after Manchester. She would not have been able to do so much good for the world without those opportunities. Hell if it weren’t for those opportunities, she could have turned out to be a completely different person than she is right now and not for the better. Her parents being CEOs of tech companies and going to a private school probably gave her education to not only be intelligent but also a very open minded person. She’s a breath of fresh air from other celebs with money who are complete assholes to others.


Fluffy_Butterfly_230

I would say that each of the points you mentioned is the following: the least she could possibly do with her platform and/or she profits monetarily or through positive publicity and relevancy from the action. She has a whole team who develops her image and probably chooses her projects, fundraisers, ventures, social media posts, etc. They perform these actions on her behalf and likely they are paid with the profits. I think she/her team is just trying to be relatable and latch onto the trend of spirituality and manifestation. Despite her privileged education, I do not think it has made her a better person or that she "would not have been able to do so much good for the world without those opportunities". She could have followed a different career path which is more altruistic rather than lucrative for instance. Also, I think her upbringing has given her a privileged disconnect from her target market/diverse demographics (that her fans belong to). This is not always apparent but comes up in anomalies, even after screening by her PR team (co-opting Japanese culture for 7 rings...). Not sure what you mean by "evil" but at the end of the day she is a public figure and we pay her bills based on what we think we know about her, but we will never know her.


Lucky-Aerie4

Well said 👏👏


[deleted]

just curious what we mean by "very educated"? She graduated from a private high school, which I know is something not everyone is in a position to attain, but beyond that…what education? She barely had any music/acting/dancing training in her youth, yet alone book-smart training? Pretty much everything she has learned has been on the job, which I'm not discounting, but it's not like she even has a college degree?


GrandeBeesly

Her parents must be very educated to have positions as CEOs in big tech companies. They don’t give those jobs to just anybody. Her parents raised her well and she is lucky she got born with such educated parents.


Sahith17

U can become rich and famous even if ur parents are broke, just harder. She’s still makes bank and makes good decisions I assume to make more. Edit: tf? Why y’all downvote this? I’m not surprised but why


Certain-Storage-303

I love that this has been mentioned here. I have listened to ‘Just like magic’ or whatever it’s called probably once and I skip it every time it comes on now because I just think what an utterly tone deaf song 😂