Ariana Grande has come under fire from fans for joking with a friend online about murdered child beauty queen, JonBenét Ramsey.
Yesterday, Grande replied to friend Doug Middlebrook's photo of Ramsey on a newspaper cover. Middlebrook captioned the Instagram, "No one has done more covers."
Grande responded by saying she "can't WAIT for this to be your halloween look" — something Middlebrook said he was already working on.
Ramsey was a six-year-old child beauty pageant queen whose 1996 murder still remains unsolved. Initially thought to be missing thanks to a handwritten ransom note left in her home, Ramsey was later found violently murdered in her family's basement. Given Ramsey's story, fans were less than pleased with Grande and Middlebrook's jokes.
"I need people to stop with this strange, very unnerving JonBenet Ramsey obsession," one person wrote. "Jeffree Star has her tattooed on him. Ariana Grande is endorsing her as a Halloween costume. She is not a character or celebrity. She is a little girl who was murderd. It's cruel and gross."
I need people to stop with this strange, very unnerving JonBenet Ramsey obsession. Jeffree Star has her tattooed on him. Ariana Grande is endorsing her as a Halloween costume. She is not a character or celebrity. She is a little girl who was murdered. It's cruel and gross. pic.twitter.com/EwVUfmOA86
— des™ (@TheLightinItaly) July 29, 2019
Others also chimed in, noting that making "a joke about the tragic death of a child that was abused, tortured and murdered was so immature and cruel." Meanwhile, another fan responded by writing, "Wait WHAT?? an 8-year-old girl [sic] who was violently killed, strangled and suffocated cannot be anyone's costume."
Ariana Grande & her friend doug make a joke about the tragic death of a child that was abused, tortured and murdered was so Immature and cruel 😡
— ✬*ԑ̮̑ঙ¸Erika.★*´´☽ (@ErikaStinkyP) July 29, 2019
Joking about a JonBenét Ramsey Halloween costume is distasteful and disgusting pic.twitter.com/2LB7RAJub6
Wait WHAT?? an 8-year-old girl who was violently killed, strangled and suffocated cannot be anyone's costume... pic.twitter.com/MwaAXavyBE
— IVAN (@ivanmoratroya) July 29, 2019
Grande has since deleted the post and apologized to fans via Twitter.
"yeah no i deleted it very quickly and understand that it's not at all funny," she wrote. "this was out of pocket and i sincerely apologize."
See her response, below.
@ivanmoratroya yeah no i deleted it very quickly and understand that it’s not at all funny. this was out of pocket and i sincerely apologize.
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) July 29, 2019
Photo via Getty