Ariana Grande has wished a homophobic protester a "healed heart" after fans captured him on video outside her concert on Sunday night.
A video clip showed a man holding up a rainbow flag with the word "pride" scrawled out while standing outside the concert venue in Atlanta, Georgia. One of Ariana's female fans told the protester that June is Pride Month, and the man replied: "God wants you to repent."
After being alerted to the video by her followers on social media, Ariana responded: "man... saddened but not surprised by this one bit. i’m so sorry any of my fans had to encounter this. we will do our best to ensure this doesn’t happen again. proud of u all for not fighting / engaging violently. never worth it. wishing him peace & a healed heart cause girl yikes."
In another tweet, Ariana wrote: "he is highly outnumbered. you are all so celebrated and loved and safe."
Poking fun at the protester in a third message, the Thank U, Next star added: "also, he was doing the be alright choreo in his garage later that night, i promise."
The protesting comes after Ariana announced earlier this year that she will be headlining the Manchester Pride concert this summer. As she addressed backlash for the festival organisers booking a straight performer for the event celebrating the LGBTQ community, the star responded: "The LGBTQ community has been so special to me and supportive throughout my entire career. The relationships I have with my LGBTQ fans, friends, and family make me so so happy."
She also promised that she'd be putting on a "show that makes my LGBT fans feel special."
"If you truly feel like I didn't deserve to be offered this spot, I respect that. but I did accept it excitedly and gratefully," she concluded the Twitter post at the time.
Manchester Pride takes place on 24 to 26 August.
