- Ariana Grande is calling for record labels to provide therapy for their rising young stars
- Grande was 19 when she released her first album, Yours Truly
- But the Oscar-nominee says that anyone in a similar boat ‘needs a therapist to be seeing several times a week’
Ariana Grande may be nominated for her first Oscar, but the Wicked star began her career long before she took on the role of Glinda in the movie-musical.
Bursting to stardom when she was just 16, the actor, now 31, first played the role of Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon series Victorious, before starring in its spin-off show, Sam & Cat.
Of course, Grande then took the pop world by storm in the early 2010s – but is now calling for record label contracts to provide “non-negotiable” therapy for their young signees.
“I was 19 when all of that nonsense started happening to me,” Grande revealed of her jump into the spotlight when she began releasing music. “It started when I was so young with my body or rumors about my relationships or about my team or about my mom or about people I love. There was just no limit.”
Grande went on, “It’s so important that these record labels, these studios, these TV studios, these big production companies make [therapy] a part of the contract when you sign on to do something that’s going to change your life in that way, on that scale.
“You need a therapist to be seeing several times a week.”
Ariana Grande says therapy should be ‘non-negotiable’
Grande didn’t stop there, as she went on to say that big entertainment companies “should be responsible for protecting” young stars with the transition – and sometimes mental strain – that comes when they become globally famous almost overnight.
Again stating that the counseling “should be non-negotiable” in contracts, Grande continued, “To be an artist, you are a vulnerable person with your heart on your sleeve,” she said.
“So the same person who is meant to do art is the exact same person who is not meant to deal with that s***.”
Ariana Grande has previously made comments about child star safety
This isn’t the first time that Grande has called for more to be done for young artists.
In June last year, Grande revealed on Podcrushed – a podcast hosted by You star, Penn Badgeley – that she was “reprocessing” her time on the shows Victorious and Sam & Cat.
Her comments came after the documentary Quiet on Set aired, in which allegations of sexual harassment and toxic workplace conditions from other former child stars came to light.
“I think that the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting, and I think there should be therapists,” Grande told Badgeley. “I think there should be parents allowed to be wherever they want to be.”
