Ariana Grande Says She's Conflicted About Pete Davidson's Manchester Bombing Joke

The 'Saturday Night Live' comedian reportedly joked about the deadly tragedy last fall: "Britney Spears didn’t have a terrorist attack at her concert."

Ariana Grande has come to Pete Davidson’s defense.

The Saturday Night Live comedian came under fire recently for a joke he made about the 2017 terrorist attack that occurred at Grande’s Manchester concert. The tragedy left 22 dead and multiple people injured.

According to the UK Mirror, Davidson mentioned the bombing during a stand-up gig back in October. The now 24-year-old suggested the attack had a silver lining for his now-fiancée, as it proved just how famous she’d become: “Britney Spears didn’t have a terrorist attack at her concert.”

The joke resurfaced last week in light of Davidson and Grande’s recent engagement. And, to absolutely no one’s surprise, fans were pissed.

Despite the mounting backlash, Grande did not publicly address the controversy until one fan questioned her decision to stay with Davidson:

Grande responded a day later, insisting Davidson did not intend to be malicious when he made insensitive joke.  

A source close to Davidson made a similar statement earlier this week, telling People magazine: “The joke was taken out of context. [Davidson] lost his dad in 9/11 and is close with other victims of violent tragedies. As a way of coping he turns to humor. …He’s obviously sensitive to tragedy as he lost his own father and his intention is to just make people laugh.”

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