Pete Davidson Manchester attack 'joke': Ariana Grande breaks silence and says ‘this is conflicting on my heart'

Ariana Grande has broken her silence in the wake of her fiancé’s Manchester terror attack 'joke', saying she has been left "conflicted."

Grande, 25, was performing on stage in the city’s Arena venue when suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated an explosive killing 22 people on May 22, 2017.

Grande’s fiancé Pete Davidson sparked a backlash earlier this week after it emerged he had made a joke about the attack as part of a stand-up routine last year.

Davidson joked that Grande must know how famous she is “because Britney Spears didn’t have a terrorist attack at her concert”.

Grande has defended Davidson saying his intention was never malicious after a fan questioned why she is still with the Saturday Night Live star.

“I respect Ariana and I want her to be happy and everything, but she was just broken after the Manchester bombing, so I don’t know why she is still with Pete,” they tweeted. “Like yeah he made that joke a while ago, but like it’s not funny, it’s just rude. This is my opinion.”

Grande replied: “This has been v tough & conflicting on my heart. He uses comedy to help people feel better about how f***** up things in this world are. We all deal with trauma differently. I of course didn’t find it funny. It was months ago & his intention wasn’t/ is never malicious but it was unfortunate

“I hear and respect you all always (sic).”

A source close to Davidson said that his words had been “taken out of context”.

“He lost his dad in 9/11 and is close with other victims of violent tragedies,” they told People. “As a way of coping he turns to humour.”

Charlotte Hodgson, whose 15-year-old daughter Olivia Campbell-Hardy was killed in the attack, blasted Davidson for the “heartbreaking” joke.

Hodgson told the Mirror: “We don’t need jokes about it, there have been plenty around, and it’s heartbreaking to hear every day. But for someone so famous to be doing it and now to be with Ariana, it’s outrageous.”

Grande’s tweet comes weeks after she announced her engagement to Davidson.