Ariana Grande was right: "Thank U, Next" is a smash. The hotly anticipated video for her chart-topping breakup anthem just broke YouTube's record for most views in the first day of release.
Fans watched the homage to teen movies of the aughts over 50 million times within the first 24 hours of its premiere. The clip was shared at 12 p.m. PST/3 p.m. EST on Friday and sits at 50.2 million around the same time on Saturday. That's well ahead of the previous record holder, BTS' "Idol." The now runner-up notched 45.9 million views in its first day back in August.
The only other video that comes near the two in first-day numbers is Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" with 43.2 million views. The rest of the top five consists of Eminem's diss track "Killshot" (38.1 million) and Korean girl group Blackpink's "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" (36.2 million).
According to YouTube, the video was viewed by so many fans simultaneously that it briefly broke the video's comments section as users experienced delays while posting their instant reactions.
Grande herself has seemed completely shocked about her record-breaking feat on Twitter.
