Jessie J slammed the rumors that “Break Free” singer Ariana Grande is a huge diva.
Jessie J collaborated with Grande along with Nicki Minaj on the hit track “Bang, Bang,” so it’s safe to say to she has spent some time with the 21-year-old singer to know what she’s like.
Back on Wednesday, Jessie spoke with Us Weekly at the William Rast debut at Lord & Taylor in New York City, saying that Grande doesn’t even come close to deserving the ‘diva’ reputation.
"I always say, judge a person when you meet them. I’ve met Ariana, and there’s a very thin line between 'diva' and 'survival.' And a lot of people can’t differentiate that, and I’ve had that. I've had the diva stuff. And it’s when people can’t cope with how passionate you are, and how much you care," the “Domino” singer said to the magazine.
After Jessie confessed to understanding the time Grande is going through, she added in, "She's super talented, she's very young, and she's very sure of what she wants... I think she’s wonderful. She’s great."
Rumors began circulating that Grande acts like a diva after a photographer claimed she stopped a photo shoot in Australia because she wasn’t happy with how it was turning out and walked off set. She fired back, telling Mike E and Emma, on 96.ONE that the rumors were untrue, but did admit to walking off set only to change a shirt and returned to find the photographer gone.
Shortly afterwards, E! News host Giuliana Rancic added some fuel to the fire by giving her opinion of Grande. Rancic confessed on E! News that she does think Grande has a diva side to her, explaining that at an award show, Grande forced her to switch sides during an interview on the red carpet or it wasn’t happening.
But Jessie isn’t the only one Grande has on her side. Scooter Braun, her and Justin Bieber's manager, wrote on Twitter in September that it is all untrue and that she truly cares about her fans.