— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) May 18, 2020
Ariana thanked her fans for the Hot 100 #1 today and responded to 6*x9*ne’s claims that her team was using illegal tactics to get the song to #1. On Instagram, she wrote:
"thank u to everybody who supported this song, this cause and made this happen. we love uuuuu so much. i would like to say a few things. anyone who knows me or has followed me for a while knows that numbers aren't the driving force in anything i do. i'm grateful to sing. grateful to have people who want to listen. grateful to even be here at all. i didn't have a number one for the first five years of my career and it didn't upset me at all because from the bottom of my heart, music is everything to me. my fans are everything to me. i promise I couldn't ask for another fucking thing. so with this celebration today, i would like to address a few things which i don't usually do (i don't give my energy to drama or strange accusations normally but this has gone a little too far)...my fans bought the song. JUSTIN'S fans bought the song. OUR fans bought this song (never more than four copies each, AS THE RULES STATE). they are ride or die motherfuckers and i thank god every day that i have them in my life. not just when they fight for us to win (even when i ask them not to as i did this week) but because they're some of the greatest people I know. sales count for more than streams. u can not discredit this as hard as u try. to anybody that is displeased with their placement on the chart this week or who is spending their time racking their brain thinking of as many ways as they can to discredit hardworking women (and only the women for some reason...), i ask u to take a moment to humble yourself. be grateful you're even here. that people want to listen to u at all. it's a blessed position to be in. i've had a lot of "almost number ones" in my career and i never said a goddamn thing because I FEEL GRATEFUL TO EVEN BE HERE. TO WANT TO BE HEARD AT ALL... and you should feel that way too. congratulations to all my talented ass peers in the top ten this week. even number 3. and thank u to @billboard for this honor. and thank u to everybody who helped us raise a lot of money for a very important cause this week. I love u all a lot. however, there's so much to celebrate today."
Scooter Braun clears the air over 6ix9ine’s chart manipulation accusations and says the real investigation was on 6ix9ine’s YouTube views:
— Pop Base (@PopBase) May 18, 2020
“Yes there was an investigation this week but it was in to a video that had 6 times the amount of paid bot activity than the normal video.” pic.twitter.com/IazRgydIXO
6ix9ine apologizes to Ariana Grande and says he was accusing Billboard of chart manipulation, not her. pic.twitter.com/ueQnvSZPMT
— Pop Base (@PopBase) May 18, 2020
Justin Bieber speaks up about 6ix9ine’s chart manipulation accusations and says that 6ix9ine lied:
— Pop Base (@PopBase) May 18, 2020
“This is my song with Ariana Grande (...) If you gonna say her name make sure you say mine.” pic.twitter.com/L6d8bE3T4R
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