Music

Ariana Grande’s Teen Flick-Filled ‘Thank U, Next’ Music Video Is Finally Here

by Amanda Yeo  1 December 2018
Ariana Grande - Thank U, Next

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After over a week of teasing, Ariana Grande released the music video for empowerment bop ‘Thank U, Next’ this morning, and it’s everything our little rom-com-loving hearts wished for. 

Grande had been steadily building hype for over a week, releasing photos, a teaser, and most recently a behind-the-scenes video, all promising that she would recreate scenes from beloved romance and comedy films in her next music video. And when that video finally dropped today, she did not disappoint.

The ‘Thank U, Next’ video pays homage to popular movies Mean Girls, Bring It On, Suddenly 30 and Legally Blonde right down to the outfits, Grande stepping into the shoes of the leads and even recruiting a few actors from the original films to reprise their roles. This includes Mean Girls’ Jonathan Bennett and Legally Blonde’s Jennifer Coolidge, who has a small conversation with Grande’s rendition of bubbly law student Elle Woods in the middle of the song.

“”I mean, he was really cute, you know? He was really cute. And it was… it was really big,” says Grande, alluding to her previous comments about ex Pete Davidson’s reportedly generous package. These comments contributed to the emergence of the term “big dick energy” in common parlance.

“Well I’ve only gone out with one guy that had a big front tooth, and I liked it because he never got anything stuck in the front teeth,” says Coolidge. “But… Have you ever gone out with someone who had no teeth at all?”

“No.”

Australian singer Troye Sivan also makes a cameo, as does Kris Jenner, taking over Amy Poehler’s role as Regina George’s mum in Mean Girls. Grande’s former Victorious co-star Matt Bennett also appears as Cliff Pantone from Bring It On.

The video includes a Mean Girls-inspired Burn Book with photos and commentary on all Grande’s mentioned exes except Mac Miller. Only instead of burns, Grande’s Regina is dishing out compliments. “Friends forever” is scrawled on a page dedicated to Ricky Alvarez, Big Sean “could still get it”, and Grande doubles down on Davidson’s dick dimensions with “HUUUUUGE”.

After all that hype, Grande has delivered some grade A nostalgia dipped in positivity and love — things the world could always do with more of. Thank u, Ariana.