In a heartfelt and lengthy post on Twitter today, Ariana Grande has urged her fanbase to consider the implications of remarks they make towards women after she endured an upsetting encounter with a male fan.
Explaining that she and her boyfriend, Mac Miller, had bumped into a fan while picking up some food, Ariana went on to reveal that the exchange turned sour when the fan made degrading comments about the popular singer.
"He was loud and excited and by the time M was seated in the driver's seat, he was literally almost in the car with us," Ariana recalled.
"I thought all of this was cute and exciting until he said 'Ariana is sexy as hell man. I see you, I see you hitting that!!!'"
"Hitting that? The f**k??" Ariana continued in the post which has racked up 130,000 likes.
"This may not seem like a big deal to some of you but I felt sick and objectified. I was also sitting right there when he said it."
"It hurts my heart that so many young people are so comfortable using these phrases and objectifyin women with such ease," she wrote.
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) December 28, 2016
"I am not a piece of meat that a man gets to utilize for his pleasure. I'm an adult human being in a relationship with a man who treats me with love and respect."
Urging women to speak out against such behaviour, Ariana continued: "We need to talk about these moments openly because they are harmful and they live on inside of us as shame."
"We need to share and be vocal when something makes up feel uncomfortable because if we don't, it will just continue. We are not objects or prizes. We are QUEENS."
Ariana's post has been inundated with support since its upload eight hours ago, with one fan writing: "I actually respect the hell out of you for using your platform to speak up."
"I don't know if anyone has told you recently but you're amazing, loved and very appreciated," added another.
The singer's post has been re-tweeted more than 60,000 times.
