Ariana Grande apologized to actor Cassandra Peterson — better known as horror movie host Elvira, Mistress of the Dark — after Peterson described feeling snubbed after she met Grande years ago.
In a video on Instagram, Peterson, the self-proclaimed "Queen of Halloween," was asked about celebrity encounters at a Knott's Scary Farm fan Q&A on Friday at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. She recounted the story of her worst run-in with a celebrity, a singer whose name she said "rhymes with Pariana Mande."
Peterson said that Grande requested 20 tickets for an Elvira show for her friends and family and Peterson signed autographs and took pictures with them backstage.
However, when Peterson asked for a photo with Grande, she said, Grande declined, saying, "No, I don’t really do that" — which prompted boos from the panel crowd.
Peterson said Grande also left before the Elvira show even began, leaving her friends and family.
On Monday, Grande commented on Peterson's Instagram post, which also shared screenshots of an article outlining Peterson's claims, to share her own side of the story and apologize.
"i’m so disheartened to see this. i actually don’t even remember getting the chance to meet you because i had an anxiety attack and to my memory, left before the rest of my family (this was around 7 years ago and at the time i was really not great with being in public crowds or loud places)…," she said. "but if i’m misremembering this moment, i sincerely apologize for offending you so."
Grande most likely was referring to the period after the bombing at her concert in Manchester, England, in 2017, which killed 22 people.
"thank you for being so nice to my mom, she told me how lovely you were (she might have different feelings about that now but i’ll talk to her… clearly, we all have our days!)," Grande wrote. "you’ll always be our queen of halloween!"
Fans of Grande, known as Arianators, supported her in the comments, saying "This was in 2017 during the Manchester attack, she didn’t wanna be seen in the public eye" and "What happened to women supporting women?"
Others sided with Peterson, commenting that "Elvira has always kept it real" and that "I am VERY inclined to believe this is very true."
Peterson played Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, in the 1980s television program "Elvira’s Movie Macabre," the 1988 film "Elvira: Mistress of the Dark" and the 2001 movie "Elvira’s Haunted Hills."
Grande is starring as Glinda the Good Witch in the coming big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical "Wicked" — which one of the Elvira panel hosts referred to in the video, saying she was "playing the wrong witch."
"Wicked" is distributed by Universal Pictures, which is owned by NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.
