Los Angeles: Ariana Grande says she stopped engaging with the press for a while as the singer felt she was being treated unfairly.
In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music's "At Home" series, the 26-year-old singer explained her decision to avoid media. "I stopped doing interviews for a really long time because I felt like whenever I would get into a position where somebody would try to say something for clickbait or twist my words or blah, blah, blah, I would defend myself. And then, people would be like, 'Oh, she's a diva'," Grande said.
"If I have an opinion artistically or if I am directing something, or if I have something to say regarding a choice that's being made with my career or something, blah, blah, blah, it always was in the past kind of manipulated and turned into this negative thing, whereas I don't see that with men," she added.
The singer further said that her portrayal in the press has been starkly different than how men are treated. "It's like when men express their opinions or defend themselves - or are directing something and making notes on something, they're brilliant and they're genius at it. And yet, it's just so not the same thing with women, which I hope we can work on fixing," Grande added.
The singer recently collaborated with Justin Bieber for the track "Stuck with U" as a charitable effort. The proceeds from the sale of the songs will to the the First Responders Children's Fund.
