Drama in r/ArianaGrandeSnark after moderators ban discussion of Ariana’s “alleged” eating disorder
r/ArianaGrandeSnark is a subreddit dedicated to criticizing or “snarking” on the singer/actress. Recent photos and videos of Ariana looking alarmingly thin have sparked much discussion about the singers’ health concerns, toxic beauty standards and normalization of eating disorders in Hollywood.
Last night, the moderators made an announcement that they would no longer allow commentary on Ariana’s alleged’ eating disorder; adding this to the banned topics list, including speculation of drug use, pregnancy and abuse (namely by Dan Schneider, who Ariana worked with on “Victorious” as a teenager. Multiple actors and creative staff have claimed Schneider was abusive and fostered a toxic work environment in the “Quiet on Set” documentary). Users of the subreddit were not happy citing censorship of -in their opinion- an important discussion.
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hey everyone, we just wanted to let you all know that moving forward, we will not be allowing any discussion or speculation about ariana’s alleged eating disorder or mental health conditions. this includes any comments or posts related to her body, mental and physical health, or eating habits. here's why: 1. respect for health privacy: while she is a public figure, ariana deserves the same level of privacy and respect regarding her health as anyone else. talking about her personal health in this way is invasive and unnecessary. 2. toxicity: discussions like these often turn toxic, leading to excessive negativity and hate that doesn’t belong here. 3. unverified info: there's no solid or credible confirmation regarding these claims. spreading rumors or assumptions doesn’t help anyone, especially our users who struggle with eating disorder and mental illness themselves. at the end of the day, we are not her doctors. we’d like to reiterate that we absolutely understand the genuine and good-faith concerns for ariana’s health. we hear you completely. we want to keep the focus on snarking about her behavior and actions, not her body. there's plenty to discuss when it comes to her public persona without crossing into harmful territory. the mod team has seen and removed a large amount of outright horrible comments and while the comments are not directed us, they are starting to wear some of us down.
with that, we would also like our users to avoid speculating on and diagnosing mental illnesses. this includes posts such as “i have BPD/NPD/etc and see myself in ariana”. we kindly ask that you avoid bringing these up in any form. exceptions may be made in the instance of publications or large-scale media articles (for example, the recent new york post front page) addressing ariana’s weight loss. outside of those highlighted posts, comments and posts about these topics will be removed. continued violations or intentionally trying to cheat around the filters put in place may result in a ban.
while this may not be the most popular decision within our members, please know the mod team has spent months deliberating on how to handle this topic without crossing into the territory of censorship; we completely acknowledge many of you are here as a result of heavy censorship on fan subs. ultimately, we decided that this would be the best decision for our community and users as a whole. we truly thank you all for your understanding❤️ if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the mod team. — the mod team
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The responses to this announcement were overwhelmingly negative.
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I understand that we should respect their health privacy, but Ariana herself opened this up for public discussion when she made that video saying this is "the healthiest she's ever been" when she obviously looks unwell. She has a lot of impressionable young fans who look up to her, and some of them literally don't see a difference between her appearance now compared to a few years ago. They need to know that this physique is not normal, not healthy, and not something to aspire to be. In this age of Ozempic, with Hollywood celebrities and social media influencers losing weight and normalizing being underweight, we should have a space to call them out and be a voice of reason Also, for Ariana, we can't always separate snarking on her behavior vs commenting on her body because she has a well documented obsession with being small and childlike
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The moderators responded to a few comments
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MOD: the only banned topics are speculating on drug use, pregnancy and mental illness.
This debacle prompted a user to create their own “second sub”, r/snarkingonariana which amassed nearly 500 members overnight. Users of the main sub also began questioning if the mod team had be “infiltrated” by fans, paid off by Ariana’s team or sent a cease and desist; this was refuted by a moderator’s new-deleted account.
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Im starting to think the moderators are more of Ari fans than Ari snarkers
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A few hours later, a new post was made by the mod team, announcing new leadership. In further comments, the moderator clarifies that 2 of the previous top mods have stepped down and turned over ownership to a new mod team.
hello all! we want to let you know that r/ArianaGrandeSnark is undergoing a leadership change given the recent backlash. a new team of moderators is stepping in, and a major overhaul is imminent. our goal is to improve the community experience for everyone, and we can't do this without your feedback. the comment section of this thread and our modmail is open to your ideas and criticisms. we hope for everyone to have their voice heard in the upcoming changes we plan to make. stay tuned for more updates 💖
This was also met with backlash and many questions
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what was the vetting process like? who are the new mods?
MOD: Two new mods with extensive history moderating subreddits of this nature have joined the team. At least two more will be added once the founding members leave 1. We truly want to improve the community experience for everyone. It is still too early for us to give a more concrete answer, so please be patient as we get our bearings. 2. The previous top moderator announced at the last minute that they were quitting due to personal reasons, and also presumably because of the backlash. Another moderator quit soon afterwards citing similar reasons. Every new mod that was added afterwards was vetted by the top mod before leaving. This included a thorough review of our past moderation history. 3. This is still a work in progress, however our ultimate goal is not to overly censor users over sensitive topics such as ED and mental illness.
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Definitely a polarizing topic on the sub. What are your thoughts?