she licked a doughnut she had not bought and said she hated america. it was 2015, she was twenty-two, and the apology is the interesting part.
the short answer
on 4 july 2015 she was filmed on cctv at wolfee donuts in lake elsinore, california, licking doughnuts on a counter that she had not bought and saying she hated america. tmz published the footage. she apologised twice — the second time saying the first apology had missed the point by lecturing about the food industry. no charges were brought.
what happened
independence day, 2015. she was in a doughnut shop with friends, waiting while somebody else paid. cctv caught her leaning over the counter and licking two doughnuts she was not buying, and then reacting to a tray being brought out with a remark about hating americans and america. tmz obtained and published the footage days later.
she was twenty-two, dangerous woman was ten months away, and the public read on her was still nickelodeon graduate. it was, by a distance, the largest negative story of her career to that point.
the two apologies
the first was a written statement. it said she was extremely proud to be an american and explained that the remark had been aimed at a friend and was about how freely americans consume food, citing childhood obesity. that is a defence rather than an apology, and it went down accordingly.
the second was a video, and it is the reason this page is worth reading. she said the first attempt had missed her opportunity to sincerely apologise because she had been too busy preaching about her issues with the food industry, and that seeing footage of yourself behaving badly that you did not know was being taken is a rude awakening. she described being disgusted with herself.
the consequences
- no charges. the owner of the shop declined to press any, and the health department's interest went nowhere.
- a hosting slot lost. she had been due to co-host a music awards ceremony that summer and did not.
- a durable joke. it has followed her for a decade and she has occasionally acknowledged it. it is the single most common thing brought up by people who dislike her.
where it sits
it is the first entry in the list of things she has been criticised for and by some way the least serious. what makes it worth a page is that it is genuinely instructive about how she handles being wrong in public — badly the first time, well the second.
questions people ask
what did ariana grande do with the donuts?
she licked two doughnuts she had not bought, on a counter at wolfee donuts in california, on 4 july 2015. it was caught on cctv.
did ariana grande say she hates america?
she said she hated americans and america in the footage. she later said the remark was aimed at a friend and was about how freely americans consume food.
was ariana grande charged?
no. the shop's owner declined to press charges.
how many times did she apologise?
twice. the second video apology said the first had missed the point by lecturing about the food industry rather than apologising.
when did the donut incident happen?
4 july 2015. the footage was published days later.