Mac Miller, Ariana Grande break up, report says

Pop star Ariana Grande and rapper Mac Miller, longtime collaborators and close friends who began dating in 2016, have broken up, according to reports.

TMZ.com was the first to report that “No Tears Left to Cry” singer Grande, 24, and Pittsburgh native Miller, 26 — who was featured on Grande’s first single, “The Way,” in 2013 — amicably ended their relationship, ostensibly due to busy schedules. Grande wrapped her “Dangerous Woman” tour in September and currently is scheduled to perform at the Billboard Music Awards on May 20 and at the KIIS FM Wango Tango show in Los Angeles on June 2. Her new album, “Sweetener,” is due for release July 20. Miller has no upcoming tour dates.

The singer, who said she was “grateful” to have Miller in her life, publicly commented on the relationship on an Instagram Story Thursday.

“Hi! This is one of my best friends in the whole world and favorite people on the planet Malcolm MacCormick,” she wrote in the photo message. “I respect and adore him endlessly and am grateful to have him in my life in any form, at all times regardless of how our relationship changes or what the universe holds for each of us!”

“Unconditional love is not selfish. It is wanting the best for that person even if at the moment, it’s not you,” she wrote. “I can’t wait to know and support you forever and I’m so proud of you!”

Miller’s most recent post about Grande was a retweet of her “No Tears Left to Cry” release announcement on April 19. “Very proud of this girl right here,” he wrote.

The friends were first reported to be dating in September 2016. Their most recent appearances together were at Madonna’s Academy Awards after-party in March, and at the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, on April 20, where Grande was a guest performer during DJ-musician Kygo’s set. Grande attended the Met Gala without a guest this week. She was photographed with designer Vera Wang, whose outfit Grande wore.

Miller had stood by the singer in the wake of the terrorist bombing at Grande’s Manchester Arena show in the U.K. last May. The couple subsequently performed “The Way” and his song “Dang!” together at the June 4 benefit concert Grande organized for victims of the attack, and they memorably shared a kiss onstage.

Grande had told Cosmopolitan magazine in a March 2017 interview she and Miller had met when she was 19.

“We have loved and adored and respected each other since the beginning, since before we even met, just because we were fans of each other’s talent,” she said. “We weren’t ready at all, though, to be together. It’s just timing. We both needed to experience some things, but the love has been there the whole time.”

She added, “There were times over the years when he would call me and hear that I was stressed or overwhelmed or not doing well, and he would call my mom. There were also times when he was really broken and sad — this was years ago — and I would come take care of him, because we love each other as best friends first and foremost.” Asked how she knew romantic love had developed, Grande replied, “The universe, man. She was belting in our ears.”