Getty Images via ABCAriana Grande offered a very brief, heartfelt tweet last Monday following the attack at her Manchester, U.K. concert, and then stayed silent. Today, the singer’s offering a longer message to her fans, and to the attack’s victims and their families.
Ariana begins, “My heart, prayers and deepest condolences are with the victims of the Manchester Attack and their loved ones. There is nothing I or anyone can do to take away the pain you are feeling or to make this better,” she writes. “However, I extend my hand and heart and everything I possibly can give to you and yours, should you want or need my help in any way.”
She continues, “We will not quit or operate in fear. We won’t let this divide us. We won’t let hate win.”
Ariana goes on to announce that she’s planning a special concert in Manchester to honor the victims and raise money for their families.
“I want to thank my fellow musicians and friends for reaching out to be a part of our expression of love for Manchester,” she writes. “I will have details to share with you as soon as everything is confirmed.”
Ariana concludes by saying she began her Dangerous Woman tour intending it to be a safe space for her fans: “A place for them to celebrate, to escape, to heal, to feel safe and to be themselves. To meet their friends they’ve made online. To express themselves.”
She then declares: “This will not change that.”
Ariana concludes: “We will continue in honor of the ones we lost, their loved ones, my fans and all affected by this tragedy. They will be on my mind and in my heart everyday and I will think of them with everything I do for the rest of my life.”
Twenty-two people were killed in the attack at the Manchester Arena, when a man carrying an explosive device detonated it, also killing himself and injuring 59 others.
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— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) May 26, 2017
