Family members of one of Jeffrey Dahmer’s victims are upset after Ariana Grande admitted on a podcast that she told a young fan that the convicted serial killer was her ideal dinner party.
Speaking to TMZ earlier this week, Anthony “Tony” Hughes’ mother Shirley Hughes called the actress and singer’s comments “sick.”
“To me, she seems sick in her mind. It’s not classy or funny to say you’d like to have dinner with him. It’s also not something you should say to young people, which she says it is,” Shirley told TMZ.
Tony — one of Dahmer’s 17 known victims — was drugged and killed by Dahmer at the killer’s home after the two met at a gay bar in Milwaukee on May 24, 1991, the Associated Press and books on Dahmer’s crimes report the last few hours of his life. Tony was a deaf man who could not speak; he was 31 years old at the time of his death.
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Shirley and her daughter Barbara told TMZ that they hope others will understand the pain they cause victims’ families when they mention Dahmer’s name in public. They believe that Grande (31) should publicly apologize and make it clear to her fans that serial killers should not be glorified.
“Unfortunately, until it happens to her and her family, she just doesn’t know what we’ve been through,” Barbara said.
Representatives for Grande did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Ariana Grande told young fan her dream dinner date would be with Jeffrey Dahmer: ‘I have questions’
Ariana Grande on Podcrushed.
Podcrushed/Youtube
Grande — who herself experienced the trauma of the May 2017 Manchester bombing on her show, which killed 22 people — made the comments in question on the June 17 episode Crushed podcast with co-host Penn Badgley.
“Yes and?” the singer recalled a question-and-answer session at the beginning of her career when she answered questions from young fans. The little girl asked her who she would like to have dinner with, dead or alive.
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“When I was younger I was obsessed with serial killers,” Grande recalled. “I said, ‘Oh, you’re so cute. Mom and Dad, is it okay if I give the right answer?’ And they said ‘Sure, what’s the answer?’ and I said, ‘I mean, Jeffrey Dahmer is pretty fascinating. I think I’d like to meet him. You know, maybe with a third party or someone involved. But I have questions.’”
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Badgley, 37, and his podcast co-hosts Nava Kavelin and Sophie Ansari laughed at the pop star’s memory as she recalled how her parents told their daughter they would explain to her “later” who the serial killer was.
“And I said, ‘I’m just going to sing ‘Problem’ and go home,” Grande concluded the story.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education