Ariana Grande is riding that struggle bus these days. The 7 Rings singer recently got a tattoo in honor of the success of her new song. But when Grande posted the tattoo in a now deleted Instagram post, Twitter reacted… strongly. This isn’t the first 7 rings controversy; Grande came under fire last week for accusations that her song was cultural appropriation. Find out how Twitter is reacting to the Ariana Grande 7 Rings tattoo.
Ariana Grande 7 Rings tattoo explained
The drama all started when Ariana posted her tattoo in a now deleted post on Instagram. These Japanese characters are on her palm: 七輪. But Twitter was quick to point out that they “do not think it means what you think it means.” A popular tweet by @hey_amo noticed the tattoo also means a small Japanese BBQ grill.
Ariana Grande’s new tattoo “七輪” means Japanese style bbq grill, not 7 rings. ? If you want to know about 七輪, just google “SHICHIRIN” pic.twitter.com/HuQM2EwI62
— *amo* (@hey__amo) January 30, 2019
So how did Grande mess up this bad? Well, the Japanese grill that @hey_amo is referring to is a shichirin. But its characters are: 七輪, which literally means “seven wheels.” Grande left out some key characters between the two symbols that would actually mean seven rings in Japanese. Whoops.
Twitter reacts to Ariana Grande 7 rings tattoo
Okay, so that’s a mistake. Some Twitter users called back to previous accusations of cultural appropriation.
this is why we should stop using culture/language as an aesthetic lol
— chittaphon ❄️ (@ramennshaw) January 30, 2019
Other Twitter users defended the celebrity’s tattoo choice, noting her commitment to learning Japanese language. (Although Grande is learning Japanese, she is definitely not fluent.)
she’s fluent in Japanese. It’s not just an aesthetic to her but okay
— Imani ?✨? (@hoIyarmani) January 30, 2019
Some people were more upset about the tattoo’s artistic merit, stating that “it doesn’t even look good.”
It doesn’t even look good either. It looks like it was drawn on with a sharpie. So not only did she not know what it meant, but went to someone who clearly doesn’t know how to do calligraphy tats to top it off.
— Fuzz (@curefuzz) January 30, 2019
But most people saw the humor in it, and choose to make jokes at the Grande’s mistake.
“I see it, I want it, I grill it, I eat it.” #7Grills #Remix
— Alex B. Smith Sports (@axsmithsports) January 30, 2019
“you like my hand? gee thanks, just bought it!”
— nct world tour pls (@daysicc6) January 30, 2019
Ariana Grande 7 rings tattoo apology
Grande responded to the controversy, but this time with a now deleted Twitter chain. She defended her tattoo, saying that she left out characters on purpose because of the painful position of her palm. She also said that due to the tattoo’s location, it would fade easily.
Next time, she says, she will put the full seven rings translation. But at the end of the day, it seems she can find the humor in it too, saying “that’s how u end up with a tiny grill/circle/tambourine on your hand.” Although it gave us a good chuckle, in the future please get a translator. Thank u, next.
