Leighton Meester is clearing the air about her viral exchange with Ariana Grande at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards.
Meester, 39, faced backlash after the January 4 awards show as fans thought the Gossip Girl alum mocked Grande, 32, when the pop star greeted Meester in passing on the red carpet.
“I love you so much. Wow, wow, wow,” Grande shouted as she walked by Meester, as seen in a video shared by E! News at the time.
Meester smiled and responded, “Wah, wah, wah,” which many people interpreted as her making fun of Grande. (Others defended Meester and believed that she was simply being playful.)
Now, Meester is sharing what really happened.
“I was with Kate [my publicist]. And [Ariana] said something to me,” the actress said during the Wednesday, February 18, series finale of Penn Badgley’s “Podcrushed” podcast. “And then Kate turns around, and we both heard that [Ariana said], ‘Hi, I love you. Wah, wah, wah.’”
Meester thought that Grande had been poking fun at her for crying over husband Adam Brody’s Critics Choice Awards win in 2025. The Roommate star said she and Kate had been talking about the crying moment just before Grande walked by.
“I couldn’t hear her. She was, like, walking away. And I was like, ‘Oh, she’s kind of a comedy queen. She’s just being funny.’ Like, ‘I love you. Wah, wah, wah.’ Like, I thought that would be something she would do,” Meester explained. “And so I was like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s cute and funny.’”
Apparently, Meester had misheard Grande.
“Turns out she didn’t say that. And then I saw her, like, the next week, and I was like, ‘I have to tell you, like, I thought [you said that],’” Meester recalled. “And she’s like, ‘You thought I said wah, wah, wah? That’s so funny.’ And I was like, ‘No, it’s an old person not being able to hear.’ Like, that is so embarrassing.”
Meester attended the Critics Choice Awards in support of Brody, 46, who was nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his leading role in Netflix’s Nobody Wants This. The show was also nominated for Best Comedy Series, Best Actress (Kristen Bell), Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Justine Lupe) and Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (Timothy Simons).
Brody won the Best Actor accolade at the 2025 Critics Choice Awards. He thanked Meester, who made a guest appearance in Nobody Wants This season 2, in his acceptance speech.
“My darling, darling, darling wife Leighton, thank you for sharing this life with me and this journey with me,” he said. “Thank you for our family. I love you with all my heart.”
Brody and Meester tied the knot in 2014. The couple share daughter Arlo, 10, and a son, 5, whose name has never been publicly revealed.
Brody teased Meester’s Nobody Wants This cameo in October 2025, telling USA Today that she had “begged” him for a role on the show.
“She’s been begging me and begging me, and I say no, and eventually I gave in,” he joked. “She won’t stop thanking me now. It’s so great. It’s so great to have that power over her.”
