Ariana Grande Stumbles, Laughs While Performing ‘Thank U, Next’ on ‘Ellen’ (Watch)

By Jem Aswad

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Ariana Grande performed her new single “Thank U, Next ” on “Ellen” Wednesday morning, amplifying the song’s theme by appearing with two dancers on a set made up to look like a wedding reception.

Midway through the song, she climbed on top of a chair and stumbled as she stepped down from it, but she literally laughed it off, breaking up the verse with an “Oh my god” and laughing during a couple of the following lines.

The song, which dropped Saturday night shortly before the beginning of the first new episode of “Saturday Night Live” since she called off her engagement to the show’s cast member Pete Davidson, is a tribute to all of her exes, naming Davidson, Big Sean, Ricky Alvarez and finally, the late Mac Miller, who died of a drug overdose in September several months after the two of them split up. In the song she calls him an “angel.”

Not surprisingly, she elides the song’s chorus “I’m so f—ing grateful for my ex” to “I’m so, I’m so grateful” on “Ellen.”

Ninety minutes after the song dropped, Davidson made his own statement during the “SNL’s” Weekend Update segment, concluding his raucous guest spot by saying, “I know some of you are curious about the breakup, but the truth is, it’s nobody’s business. Sometimes things just don’t work out and that’s okay. She’s a wonderful, strong person and I genuinely wish her all the happiness in the world. Now please go vote on Tuesday, alright?”

Judging by social media posts earlier this week Grande did not respond well to Davidson’s reference to their breakup during “SNL” promos (in one, he jokingly asked this week’s musical guest, Maggie Rogers, to marry him), yet the song seems intended to clear the air.

In social media posts teasing the track last week, Grande said an album is coming as well, although details remain unclear. “Sweetener,” her fourth and latest album, was released just two months ago and is currently at No. 20 on the Billboard 200. Last week she announced the  “Sweetener” world tour , with initial dates running from March to June of 2019.

Watch Grande’s full performance on “Ellen” below: