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Ariana Grande has hit back at criticism of a viral video which appeared to show her switching voices mid-sentence, calling the attention a “double standard”.
Earlier this year, a video of the 31-year-old speaking in a deeper tone before instantly switching to a breathier and higher pitch, circulated across multiple social media platforms. Fans were left confused by the change with some speculating that her usually airy speech was a performance.
The clip of the “Positions” singer came from her appearance on an episode of You star Penn Badgley’s podcast, Podcrushed, in which she spoke about her music career and starring role in the forthcoming musical film, Wicked.
After defending herself once already by insisting that she often switched tone out of “habit” and for “vocal health”, the star has now doubled down and called out her critics for sexism as she accused them of not applying the same scrutiny to men.
“I mean, you see male actors.... It’s always after the fact that they’re like, ‘Oh wow, how dedicated to his craft! What an amazing transformation! He’s a brilliant performer!’” she told Evan Ross Katz on the Shut Up Evan podcast.
“And then, god forbid, I sneeze like Glinda or something, or if I make an intonation… it’s just that I’m crazy or ‘Should someone check on her?’ It’s the weirdest thing.”
She clarified that voices often change registers throughout conversation especially where a person has a large range as she does. She also attributed the change to the time she had spent using her voice in a certain way, something she said she been doing while filming Wicked.
The new update comes as Paris Hilton was also accused of switching her voice during a speech to Congress child sexual abuse, earlier this month.
“I intentionally change my vocal placement (high / low) often depending on how much singing i’m doing,” Grande commented on a TikTok of her voice change last month. “I’ve always done this BYE.”
Grande has previously spoken about the techniques she deploys to protect her voice as long ago as 2013, in an interview where she explained her higher tone.
“I’ve been speaking in a slightly higher placement than I usually speak in because I’ve been doing a lot of interviews and I’m trying to keep my voice healthy,” she said.
