Ariana Grande Apologizes For JonBenét Ramsey Joke

Ariana Grande has apologized for making a joke about JonBenét Ramsey. In a now-deleted Instagram post, Grande joked about her friend dressing up as the child beauty queen, who was found dead in her family's Colorado home in 1996, for Halloween. The case remains unsolved over 20 years later.

Grande’s friend Doug Middlebrook shared a photo of a recent tabloid cover featuring Ramsey, according to Page Six. "No one has done more covers," Middlebrook captioned the post. "i cant WAIT for this to be your halloween look,” Grande replied.

Almost immediately, fans started calling Grande's comments out of line. "Wait WHAT?? an 8-year-old girl who was violently killed, strangled and suffocated cannot be anyone's costume...," a fan named @ivanmoratroya tweeted.

Grande later responded to this fan on Twitter, writing, "yeah no i deleted it very quickly and understand that it’s not at all funny. this was out of pocket and i sincerely apologize."

In another tweet, which has now been deleted, Grande further apologized. "Dark jokes are a coping mechanism for me," she wrote, "and yet, I hate when other people make them." She then thanked her fans for "being real and always helping me learn. I'm happy I have a fanbase who's not afraid to call me out on my sh*t."