The Reason Victoria Justice And Ariana Grande Aren't Friends

These days, Ariana Grande is one of the biggest pop stars in the world. And despite the fact that it seems like she's been around forever, Grande didn't launch her singing career until 2013, when she released her debut studio album, Yours Truly. Before Grande was giving Mariah Carey a run for her money, she was making a name for herself as a Nickelodeon star. In 2010, she landed the role of Cat Valentine on the Nickelodeon show Victorious. Back then, Grande was stuck playing second fiddle to the show's star, Victoria Justice. The show ran for four seasons from 2010 until 2013. While Victorious probably could have gone on longer, some people (we'll name names later) got too big for their britches and bowed out to pursue solo careers.

After Victorious wrapped, Grande went on to appear on the series' spin-off, Sam & Cat until 2014. Since then, she hasn't done a whole lot of acting — considering the fact that she's been kind of busy being a huge pop star. However, she hasn't forgotten the people who supported her along the way. Most of Grande's former co-stars have made cameos in music videos and popped up on tour stops. She even still finds time to party with Nickelodeon pals. However, Justice and the singer haven't really been spotted together in any capacity since the show ended. The reason? Justice and Grande aren't friends — here's why.

While rumors of tension on-set between Ariana Grande and Victoria Justice swirled from the start, it wasn't until a 2010 interview with Popstar! that fans got to see a bit of the drama firsthand. In the interview, which featured the main ladies of Victorious, Justice appears to get a little annoyed with Elizabeth Gillies singing Grande's praises. "She sings everything," Gillies says in the video. "And it's a good thing because she has a beautiful voice, but it's awesome. She sings absolutely everything, she never stops." Daniella Monet then added that Gillies also sings a lot before being interrupted by Justice saying, "I think we ALL sing" complete with an eye roll — yikes! It seems like Justice might have been slightly intimidated by the petite popstar from the start.

So when Victorious ended in 2013, fans were quick to pounce on Ariana Grande, citing the singer's involvement in the Sam & Cat spin-off as the reason the show wrapped when it did. Did Grande take that kind of accusation lying down? Friends, she did not.

Ariana Grande got tired of all the hate coming her way as a result of fans making connections between Victorious's end and Sam & Cat's beginning. In 2013, Grande reportedly fired back at a fan on her ask.fm account, sharing her side of the story.

"Sweetheart the only reason Victorious ended is because one girl didn't want to do it," she wrote (via Seventeen). "She chose to do a solo tour instead of a cast tour. If we had done a cast tour Nickelodeon would have ordered another season of Victorious while Sam & Cat filmed simultaneously but she chose otherwise." Considering the fact that Grande has never been afraid of being a little shady, we're not surprised by her response — but she did kind of put Victoria Justice on blast. It seems like Justice was keen to capitalize on her Victorious fame and spin it into a full-blown career as quickly as possible. Ironically, since parting ways with the Nickelodeon show, Justice hasn't been all that busy. Maybe she should have stuck around for another season after all.

In a now-deleted tweet, Justice took to Twitter to air her grievances writing, "Some people would throw someone that they consider a friend under the bus just to make themselves look good. #StopBeingAPhony #IfTheyOnlyKnew (via J-14)." Justice also told TMZ that she wasn't to lay blame, saying, "I had no control over leaving the show or the show ending, that was completely up to Nickelodeon and the executives. And I love the cast and I loved doing Victorious."

However, it seems like her love for the cast didn't extend to all.

In an interview with Seventeen in June 2013, Ariana Grande seemingly got real about her time on Victorious. "I worked with someone who told me they'd never like me," she told the magazine. "But for some reason, I just felt like I needed her approval. So I started changing myself to please her. It made me stop being social and friendly. I was so unhappy." Sounds like an unhealthy friendship, to say the least.

Just two months later in August 2013, Grande was singing a completely different tune, issuing a statement to Seventeen about the quote. "My years filming Victorious were some of the HAPPIEST of my life and that cast is family to me," Grande said. "The stories I shared with Seventeen were actually reflective of a different work experience. Please don't send hate to anyone, it's undeserved and I would never want that."

During an appearance on The Meredith Vieira Show in January 2015, Justice also addressed the quote, expressing her exasperation with how long the bullying rumors had been following her. "Once the article came out — actually before it came out — she texted me privately, and she was like, 'Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. You know how the media twists words. I was not talking about you obviously, I was talking about someone on Broadway I had worked with.' But once it got out there everyone thought that I was this bully and mean to her, which couldn't be further from the truth."

Despite the backtracking and PR-crafted statements, seeing as how Victorious had ended mere months before the Seventeen interview, it's kind of hard to believe that Grande was really talking about her time on Broadway which, at the time, was five years prior — just saying!

Over the years, Victoria Justice has repeatedly insisted that there is no bad blood between her and Ariana Grande, but actions speak louder than words. In April 2019, Grande made history as the youngest performer to headline Coachella. Seeing as how Coachella is basically a big celebrity playground, it's no surprise that Justice attended the music festival. However, instead of sticking around to support her former co-star's history-making set — since she was already way out in the desert anyway — Justice made a point to leave before the pop star took the stage. "Until next time Coachella," she wrote on Instagram. "Sorry I have to leave early, but I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again soon."

The post sent fans into such a frenzy that Justice ended up taking to her Instagram story to write, "There were so many artists I wanted to see, and of course, I wanted to see Ariana tonight, but I know she's going to have an amazing show and she's going to kill it (via The Latin Times)." 

So wait a second...she's saying she was there the whole weekend, but couldn't even stay one song into Grande's set? Okay, Victoria.

While Victoria Justice shouldn't expect to get a call about appearing in one of Ariana Grande's music videos anytime soon, she can rest easy knowing that she's not the only one who won't be making any cameos.