Ariana Grande to Grammys producer: 'You're lying about me"

Ariana Grande has called out Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich for lying about the reasons behind her absence from this weekend’s awards.

Ehrlich had told the Associated Press that Grande was in talks to perform at the Grammys on Sunday, but ultimately “felt it was too late for her to pull something together”.

Grande has publicly disputed that lack of time was the deciding factor, tweeting, “I’ve kept my mouth shut, but now you’re lying about me.”

“i can pull together a performance over night and you know that, Ken,” she continued. “it was when my creativity & self expression was stifled by you, that i decided not to attend. i hope the show is exactly what you want it to be and more.”

The singer went further, claiming that she “offered 3 different songs. it’s about collaboration. it’s about feeling supported. it’s about art and honesty. not politics. not doing favors or play

ing games. it’s just a game y’all.. and i’m sorry but that’s not what music is to me.”

Grande is up for two awards on Sunday: best pop solo performance for God Is A Woman, and best pop vocal album for Sweetener. She’s not expected to attend the ceremony, though she tweeted that she is “still grateful for the acknowledgement this year”.

Her absence will be a blow for the Grammys, which has featured her in advertising – Grande tweeted that she “passed a Grammys bus with my face on it” – for a show whose ratings fell to an all-time low last year.

The dissenting tweets come on the heels of a Variety report that Grande felt “insulted” when Grammys producers wouldn’t allow her to perform 7 Rings, the chart-topping single from her album thank u, next, which drops on Friday, two days before the telecast. Producers allegedly agreed to 7 Rings only if performed as part of a medley, but Grande backed out when they insisted on choosing the second song. Variety’s source claimed that no other performer met these demands.

A similar problem occurred last year when multiple-nominee Lorde reportedly refused to perform after only being offered a spot in a Tom Petty tribute instead of a solo sequence. At the time, Ehrlich claimed: “We have a box and it gets full. She had a great album. There’s no way we can really deal with everybody.”

Grande remains one of the biggest pop stars in the world, with 144 million Instagram followers and 60 million on Twitter. When 7 Rings was released last month, it broke the Spotify record for most plays in a 24-hour period with 15m streams.

This year’s ceremony will see performances from Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus and Diana Ross with nominations led by Kendrick Lamar.