Ariana Grande dropped a new song, “Thank U, Next,” that alludes to her exes Pete Davidson and Mac Miller — right before Davidson offered a heartfelt statement about his former fiancée on Saturday Night Live.
Grande, 25, starts the song, released on Saturday, by reviewing her past romances with dancer Ricky Alvarez, rapper Big Sean, comedian Davidson and musician Miller, who died on Sept. 7 at age 26.
“Thought I’d end up with Sean / But he wasn’t a match / Wrote some songs about Ricky / Now I listen and laugh / Even almost got married / And for Pete, I’m so thankful / Wish I could say ‘Thank you’ to Malcolm / ‘Cause he was an angel,” she sings.
“One taught me love / One taught me patience / One taught me pain / Now I’m so amazing,” she continues before the chorus: “Thank you, next / Thank you, next / Thank you, next / I’m so f—ing grateful for my ex.”
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Mentioning that she only wants to walk down the aisle once, Grande offers a self-empowerment mantra: “Plus I met someone else / We havin’ better discussions / I know they say I move on too fast / But this one gon’ last / ‘Cause her name is Ari / And I’m so good with that.”
Meanwhile, Davidson, 24, skipped a punchline during his Weekend Update segment on SNL and instead wrapped up with a nod to the “No Tears Left to Cry” singer.
“The last thing I will say is I know some of you are curious about the breakup, but the truth is it’s nobody’s business, and sometimes things just don’t work out, and that’s okay,” Davidson said. “She’s a wonderful, strong person, and I genuinely wish her all the happiness in the world.”
“Now please go vote on Tuesday,” he added.
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Davidson slipped in a joke about his split at the beginning of his appearance. “The midterm elections are obviously a huge deal, and after I had to move back in with my mom, I started paying attention,” he quipped. “She’s loving it.”
Earlier on Saturday, Grande told fans that “Thank U, Next” is also the title of a forthcoming album she’s been working on.
In a teaser for the Saturday Night Live episode on Thursday, Davidson poked fun at his former engagement. “Hey Maggie, I’m Pete. You wanna get married?” Davidson asked musical guest Maggie Rogers.
After Rogers turned him down, Davidson said he was “0-3,” joking about his failed relationships. Grande seemingly fired back at Davidson in since-deleted tweets hours after the promo was posted. “For somebody who claims to hate relevancy u sure love clinging to it huh,” she posted.
Moments later Grande tweeted “thank u, next,” hinting at her new song.
A source told PEOPLE that reports that Davidson was scrapping future plans to joke about his breakup on SNL were false.
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“It’s completely untrue that Pete got a skit about Ariana pulled from this weekend’s show,” the source said. “Pete has always talked about his life on the show, and Ariana knows that. That’s where she met him in the first place.”
“Pete’s unfazed. It’s true they’re not in agreement about things after the breakup. A lot of people thought he was the wild card in the relationship, but that’s not true. Pete has and will always joke about his life, with or without her,” the source added.
Prior to Thursday, things between Grande and Davidson appeared to be very civil.
The two called it quits in October after getting engaged in June. “It was way too much too soon,” a Grande source told PEOPLE at the time. “It’s not shocking to anyone.”
Sources close to the couple told TMZ that the decision to split was a mutual choice, as both the pop star and Davidson felt the timing wasn’t right.
Grande had weathered an emotional time in the months since Miller’s death. The musicians first went public with their relationship in September 2016 and split in April 2018.
“She completely broke down after she found out about Mac,” an insider told PEOPLE in September after Miller’s death from an apparent drug overdose. “She can’t believe he isn’t here anymore. He was such a special person to her. She is very, very sad. … This is a nightmare for her.”
His death may have factored into her split from Davidson. “It’s true that Ariana has been struggling a bit with life in general” after Miller’s death, a source told PEOPLE in October after Grande and Davidson’s breakup.
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“[Miller’s death] was devastating and shocking to her,” the source added. “It’s had a huge, negative impact on her life. It made her rethink many things in her life.”
“She realized that planning a wedding right now felt very rushed,” the source said. “It’s not what she wants to do right now. She doesn’t want to make any rushed decisions and has decided to take a step back instead.”
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