Sponsored message
Logged in as
Audience-funded nonprofit news
radio tower icon laist logo
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Subscribe
  • Listen Now Playing Listen

This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.

This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

Arts & Entertainment

Mayim Bialik: I Don't Know Who Ariana Grande Is But I Don't Like Her Sexy Billboard

One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.

'Big Bang Theory' and 'Blossom' star Mayim Bialik penned a column for a parenting site letting the world know that a billboard featuring Ariana Grande was a bit too sexy for her taste.

She writes at Kveller:

I am a bleeding heart liberal without exception. But I am old-fashioned. My kids have clothes they only wear to synagogue. I don’t favor my kids cursing. I dress modestly. I don’t want my kids learning about sex from billboards. Stuff like that. Which is why a few billboards I have seen lately really bug me. There is one for Ariana Grande, and I will go ahead and admit I have no idea who she is or what she does. Based on the billboard, she sells lingerie. Or stiletto heels. Or plastic surgery because every woman over 22 wishes she has that body, I’m sure. Why is she in her underwear on this billboard though? And if she has a talent (is she a singer?), then why does she have to sell herself in lingerie? I mean, I know that society is patriarchal and women are expected to be sexy and sexually available no matter what we do in society, but I guess now I need to explain that to my sons?

At least Bialik admits she sounds like a "crotchety old lady" and seems to have a sense of humor about her discomfort with the ad. Bialik describes herself as "socially conservative even though I’m a liberal." The description seems spot on, because her issues sound like a mishmash of feminist ones—concern about
the male gaze—as well as a prudish discomfort. In the same post, she admits she's uncomfortable talking to her son about the word "sex:" "Then there are the "Masters of Sex" ads. Seriously? How am I supposed to explain those to my kids? Especially my older son who can read?"

We're guessing the billboard in question is the one advertising the release of Grande's new album My Everything. Someone vandalized one of the billboards so that Grande was a little more covered up, and now perhaps Bialik should be added to the list of suspects:

Sponsored message

Bialik wasn't anticipating the backlash to the post and asked everyone to chill because it was just "social commentary":

In any case, it looks like the normally very modest Bialik has had her own firsthand experience with posing in an outfit very similar to Grande's:

She looks just as uncomfortable as she sounds in her post.

One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.

You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.

If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief

Make your tax-deductible donation today