Ariana Grande’s ‘thank u, next’ Video Pays Homage to ‘Mean Girls,’ ‘Legally Blonde’ & More
Ariana Grande's smash "thank u, next" is currently sitting pretty at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for a second week. The song also just went platinum and entered the Top 20 on U.S. pop radio. Now would be the perfect time to drop a video, so that's exactly what Ariana is about to do.
This week Ariana's been using Twitter and Instagram to drop hints about the "thank u, next" video concept, with one final piece still to be revealed. Since Monday (November 19) fans have deciphered that the video will pay tribute to some classic 2000s films starring bad-ass women in some iconic lead roles.
FYI: If you thought the "thank u, next" artwork looks just like the Burn Book from Mean Girls, you're on the right track.
Monday saw Ariana posting photos with her real-life bffs, using Mean Girls quotes as captions. "Meet the plastics," one Tweet reads, referring to Regina George's posse from the 2004 comedy starring Rachel McAdams and Lindsay Lohan. On her IG Story she called the posts just "25%" of the tea.
Tuesday morning (November 20) Ari started posting photos with quotes from the 2001 Reese Witherspoon-starring comedy Legally Blonde. She even posted a shot with original film star Jennifer Coolidge, who appeared to be channeling her iconic character Paulette from the iconic film. That brought us to 50% of the tea, confirmed by Ariana when a fan guessed.
By Tuesday afternoon eagle-eyed fans figured out the third (of four) movie that will be referenced in the "thank u, next" video, based on a shot of Ariana from this past Sunday in a red top with shoulder-length hair pushed behind her ears. "13 going on 30? okay...she's coming to serve," one fan tweeted. Ariana confirmed she'll be paying tribute to the 2004 Jennifer Garner-starring rom-com with a shot of a dollhouse on her IG Story, very similar to the dollhouse in the film.
"Ok you guessed the third! But there's still one more so no tea...tomorrow," Ariana wrote on her Instagram Story. There's one film left and fans wracking their brains trying to figure out what it could be. Thanks to a definite denial from Ariana, we know it's not Clueless:
What do you think the fourth and final film referenced in the "thank u, next" video is? Let us know your guesses here or on Twitter.
Late Tuesday afternoon Ariana responded to some fan questions about the video and its shoot, calling it probably her "favorite video I'll ever do."