Ariana Grande's video for breakup anthem 'Thank U, Next' debuts — and the internet loves it
Ariana Grande’s video for her “Thank U, Next” breakup video has lived up to the hype.
After more than a week of teases, the breakup anthem inspired by her split from Pete Davidson finally debuted on Friday afternoon. Perhaps no one was more impatient than the pop star herself — she actually tweeted Vevo and YouTube asking them to premiere it early — though Arianators were admittedly restless themselves. It proved worth the wait though, since the hit song was delightfully brought to life with a pop culture flare that included tributes to Mean Girls, Bring It On, Legally Blonde and 13 Going on 30.
While a lot of that was leaked by the star herself over the last week or so — we knew she’d channel Rachel McAdams’s Regina George, Reese Witherspoon’s Elle Woods, Jennifer Garner’s Jenna Rink and Kirsten Dunst’s Torrance Shipman (the toothbrushing competition!) — there were other surprises. The best was a cameo by Kris Jenner doing what she does best — being a stage mom.
The video also featured Legally Blonde’s Jennifer Coolidge (whom Grande did a mean impression of even before this), and that exchange was one of the funniest. Grande talks to her about her ex’s parts — a likely reference to Davidson’s “big d*** energy” — and Coolidge thought she meant big front tooth.
Grande’s one-time Victorious co–star Matt Bennett, Mean Girls’ Jonathan Bennett and Stefanie Drummond, Dynasty actress Elizabeth Gillies (looking a lot like Lindsay Lohan from Mean Girls), singer Troye Sivan and YouTube stars Colleen Ballinger and Gabi DeMartino were also included. So was Grande’s own dog Toulouse, who played Bruiser (the real Bruiser died a few years ago).
The internet decided rather quickly that it was worth the wait for the video. Jenner was one of the first to post about it, sharing with the Kardashian nation that she was in it.
And the video’s director wrote that she loved Ari, “these movies, and this message.”
Bennett asked toothpaste companies to rate his brushing.
And Ari’s mama gave it two thumbs up.
Her bro loved it too.
And her pal.
Witherspoon herself was delighted that Elle Woods played a part.
Mark Ruffalo liked it.
So did the Mean Girls handle.
Beyond that, though, other folks loved on it too.
“Thank U, Next” was first introduced via Twitter. After Davidson joked about the couple’s broken engagement on Saturday Night Live on Nov. 2, Grande tweeted “Thank U, Next” and the empowerment anthem soon followed. We got a hint that the song would conjure up pop culture nostalgia when she performed it alongside co-producers Victoria Monét and Tayla Parx (who also were in the new video) to a First Wives Club theme on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on Nov. 7.
Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: