Ariana Grande Says Pete Davidson’s Manchester Joke Was ‘Unfortunate’ and Not ‘Funny’

Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson have clearly demonstrated their level of commitment to the world. The newly announced couple is already engaged, after all. For as much as they celebrate being in love on social media, they also seemingly recognize each other’s flaws. One of those happens to be Davidson’s sense of humor, or at least the sense of humor he had when he delivered a joke about last year’s Manchester Arena concert bombing, which Grande was a performer at.

While the joke was made last year, it recently recirculated in the wake of the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attack. Davidson’s joke about it was, per the Mirror, that Grande had reached a new level of fame because “Britney Spears didn’t have a terrorist attack at her concert.”

Grande acknowledged it when a fan tweeted, “I respect Ariana and I want her to be happy and everything, but she was just broken after the Manchester bombing, so I don’t know why she is still with Pete, like yeah he made that joke a while ago, but like it’s not funny, it’s just rude.”

She responded by tweeting back, “this has been [very] tough & conflicting on my heart. He uses comedy to help ppl feel better [about] how f-cked up things in this world are. We all deal [with] trauma differently. I of course didn’t find it funny. It was months ago & his intention wasn’t/ is never malicious but it was unfortunate. I hear and respect you all always.”

Meanwhile, a source close to Davidson told People, “The joke was taken out of context.” They also added that Davidson is, himself, a victim of a terrorist attack. “He lost his dad in 9/11 and is close with other victims of violent tragedies,” the source said, adding, “As a way of coping he turns to humor. He’s obviously sensitive to tragedy as he lost his own father and his intention is to just make people laugh.”

Grande, however, has shared her empathy with Davidson. That now includes allegedly getting an ode to his late firefighter father, as People notes. Grande has been seen walking around with a tattoo of his badge number “8418,” on the top of her foot.