Earlier this year, on 7 September, Mac Miller died of a suspected drug overdose. Ever since his death, Ariana Grande – who had remained on good terms with her ex following the end of their two-year relationship in May – has been bullied and berated by social media trolls, many of whom have stooped so far as to accuse her of causing his death.

Now, a particularly noxious Twitter user has claimed that Grande is “milking” her ex-boyfriend’s death. And the Thank U, Next singer isn’t having it.

The comment was made after Grande shared a throwback photo of her and Mac celebrating Thanksgiving together to her Instagram Stories.

“She milkin this s**t bruh,” it read.

Rather than respond with fury and similarly ugly words (which she would have been well within her rights to do), though, Grande decided to search deep within herself and find compassion for her internet bully.

“I pray you never have to deal with anything like this ever and I’m sending you peace and love,” she said.

“Some of the s**t I read on here makes me sick to my stomach. It scares me the way some people think and I don’t like this world a lot of the time. If only we could be more compassionate and gentle with one another. That’d be sick.”

Inspired by Grande’s response, fellow singer Halsey decided to speak up.

“Ari, the world could only dream of being as compassionate and gentle as you,” she tweeted. “And since you’re being (as always) so classy and nice, allow me the honour of telling them to shut the f**k up.”

“Everything I feel is valid and safe,” she continued. “Everything I do is genuine and honest. There is no right or wrong during this period… sending u all a s**t ton of love…peace.”

Grande later confirmed that she would be taking a temporary break from social media, as things had become “too gnarly” and had begun to impact her emotional wellbeing.

It is not the first time that the singer has done so: she has openly spoken in the past about the impact social media has on her mental health. 

And, as her fans will already know, Grande needs to take the time to “heal and mend”: as well as coming to terms with Miller’s death, she continues to struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety after a man walked into the Manchester Arena on 22 May 2017 and detonated a bomb at her concert, killing 22 of her fans and injuring more than 500 others.

“I think a lot of people have anxiety, especially right now,” she said earlier this year. “My anxiety has anxiety … I’ve always had anxiety. I’ve never really spoken about it because I thought everyone had it, but when I got home from tour [in September 2017] it was the most severe I think it’s ever been.”

We hope that, during her social media absence, her bullies come to realise the error of their ways.

Image: Getty