Ariana Grande was a guest on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Sunday alongside her “Focker In-Law” castmates Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller. The Sunday night episode marked her first public appearance in months, following a statement that she’d be stepping away from the spotlight due to “endless, ongoing public scrutiny.”
Grande, De Niro and Stiller first made a Christmassy interruption to Fallon’s monologue. “The holidays are coming. The spirit’s here. It kinda makes me wanna sing,” Fallon said. “We can help with that!” said Grande, launching into a rendition of “O Christmas Tree” that ended with De Niro lip synching along to a melodramatic opera voice.
The trio then played Fallon’s “True Confessions” game. When Grande’s turn came, she told a made-up story about falling into a fish tank at an aquarium at a child and managed to convince Fallon, De Niro and Stiller that it was true. While sitting down for their interview with Fallon, all four joked that they’d previously shared the screen in a soap opera called “My Family’s Money” where the director was obsessed with slow clapping. Fallon cued up footage of a pre-taped sketch in which they wore over-the-top costumes and each character slow clapped while delivering their lines. On a more genuine note, Grande, De Niro and Stiller discussed their first times meeting each other and their admiration for each other before they began working together.
In August, Grande’s representatives released a statement that read, ““Ariana will be taking a step back from visibility after she completes the Eternal Sunshine Tour. She looks forward to finishing the tour and ending it on a high note, both healthily and happily, and then taking a much-deserved break from public-facing work and appearances, which has led to endless, ongoing public scrutiny. This tour has been a beautiful experience for her. She loves her fans and has loved every minute of this tour so much.”
The statement came after the release of her “Petal” music video, which ignited intense discourse about her physical appearance and apparent weight loss, with many speculating that she could have an eating disorder. Grande also dropped out of a previously scheduled production of “Sunday in the Park With George” on London’s West End, which was ultimately canceled.
