Bowen Yang Defends Ariana Grande, Says the “Narrative Is Wrong”

Bowen Yang defended his Wicked costar Ariana Grande during his Las Culturistas podcast, saying the narrative about her (specifically around interpretations of her new music) is wrong.

“The narrative is wrong,” Bowen said. “And she’s not even outwardly saying that, but the narrative has been incorrect, and people have even retracted things in these stories with no fucking apology to the people who are involved. I can tell you for a fact that what people out there seem to be clinging onto is incorrect.”

Bowen’s statement comes amid a report that Ethan Slater’s estranged wife Lilly Jay is not happy about Ari’s song “The Boy Is Mine.”

A source close to Lilly told the Daily Mail, “To sing a song called ‘The Boy Is Mine’ is not only a slap in the face to his still wife Lilly but a slap in the face to all women.”

The source added that Lilly thinks “Ariana is not a girl’s girl” and that the singer “basically rubbed it in Lilly’s face that she stole Ethan from Lilly then asks her fans to not interpret her song the wrong way. This is not an interpretation. It is her literal words.”

Continuing to insist that “Ariana left nothing up to interpretation,” the insider continued that “those close to Lilly believe she did this because she is upset that Ethan’s divorce is still dragging out. She wants him all to herself and feels that—because he is still legally married—she cannot truly have him. Everyone close to Lilly and who knows Ethan is just waiting for karma to slap him and Ariana in the face. It will come.”

For what it’s worth, (1) Ariana hasn’t at all confirmed who/what “The Boy Is Mine” is about and (2) a source recently told Us Weekly, “Ariana is playing with different characters, some of the lyrics come from her personal life, but others are just her playing a fun character for her fans.”