Ariana Grande’s withering response to impersonator who sparked fan frenzy at ‘Companion’ premiere

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Ariana Grande’s impersonator Paige Niemann has come under renewed spotlight after she recently made an appearance on the red carpet of the Hollywood movie ‘Companion’. 

Niemann, who has summoned her own fandom by copying the ‘Wicked’ actress for almost a decade, is once again making the rounds of social media for her image-mirroring of the Nickelodeon star. 

The social media influencer had previously created a social media ripple by cosplaying Grande's ‘Victorious’ character, Cat Valentine, that even grabbed the attention of none other than Grande herself.

Ariana Grande previously found Paige Niemann’s behavior ‘bizarre’

Paige Niemann, who boasts more than 10 million followers on TikTok and Instagram, has faithfully copied the ‘Thank U, Next’ hitmaker’s styles over the years. 

When the actress rocked a brunette ponytail with winged eyeliner, the influencer started doing the same. 

Once, she even did a skit while dressing as Grande and delivering a monologue of Cat Valentine from ‘Victorious’. Grande played Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon sitcom for four seasons, from 2010 to 2013. She also played the character in the spinoff series 'Sam & Cat'.

Soon, the video garnered attention on the internet, with the ‘Swindle’ star sharing her opinion about the same in 2019, per BuzzFeed. 

When a fan wrote on X (then Twitter), “I know Ariana is terrified…", the actress replied, “I just wonder why the Cat voice/dialogue," before adding, "I am sure she is the sweetest sweet sweetheart, for real. But it's definitely bizarre seeing people blend the two worlds.”

This was not the only time that Grande reflected on Niemann impersonating her appearance. 

In 2020, Grande took to her Instagram Story to share a video from filmmaker Jordan Firstman, who was doing his impression of a meme, indirectly calling out Niemann’s skit. 

In the video, Firstman said, “What if we, like, we took a moment, like a small clip from a movie or a TV show — something that, like, an artist really poured their soul into and it, like, it just took them years to make, and it was an uphill battle the entire time — what if we took a moment from that and we kind of, like, recontextualised it? Like, does that make sense? And we put a completely arbitrary meaning onto that thing that the artist loves so much? Kind of, like, degrading its entire value?”

He continued, "I just think that could be, like, a fun, b****y thing to do," before ending, "I'm so bored... I just kind of wanna ruin someone's life today,” as reported by BuzzFeed.

Grande reposted the video, while reflecting on the previous incident, writing, "Can this please also double as your impression of the pony tail TikTok girls who think doing the Cat Valentine voice and that wearing winged eyeliner and a sweatshirt is doing a good impersonation of me..." 

She added, "Cause this really how it feels....."degrading it's entire value" i screamed."

During that time, Niemann shared that she knew of Grande's retort, claiming during a livestream, "I'm used to Ariana shading me, so it's whatever," before adding, "I'm just here to entertain people. It's not how I am in real life. It's kind of why I'm not a fan of her anymore, honestly."

But Niemann continued impersonating Grande. The TikTok star recently appeared at the 'Companion' premiere looking like a mirror image of Grande, who has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Glinda in 'Wicked'.

Ariana Grande hints at Paige Niemann's existence in recent interview

If one thinks the entire Ariana Grande-Paige Niemann saga was a thing of the past, one might be wrong. Recently, during a promotional interview for 'Wicked' with Variety, Grande once again hinted at the existence of her impersonator. 

When the actress was hooked to a lie detector, her 'Wicked' co-star Cynthia Erivo asked whether she'd "ever confronted" anyone who came up as her impersonator. Grande replied "No," as reported by Tyla.

But when Erivo asked whether she ever "wanted to", the star replied, "Yes - in a fun way."

Though it was not mentioned, many fans concluded that Grande was probably referring to Niemann, who found her fame as a Grande lookalike when she was just 10 years old.