--- title: Bette Midler (Kind of) Apologizes for Calling Ariana Grande a 'Whore' description: Midler calls herself a 'reformed whore' canonical: https://time.com/3607291/bette-midler-ariana-grande-whore-feminism/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-26T15:34:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:24:23.615Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Bette Midler (Kind of) Apologizes for Calling Ariana Grande a 'Whore' og:description: Midler calls herself a 'reformed whore' og:url: https://time.com/3607291/bette-midler-ariana-grande-whore-feminism/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf34d2ec87ed93000/69876b335f570f1389b13d1d/ariana-grande-bette-midler.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 86th Annual Academy Awards - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bette Midler (Kind of) Apologizes for Calling Ariana Grande a 'Whore' twitter:description: Midler calls herself a 'reformed whore' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf34d2ec87ed93000/69876b335f570f1389b13d1d/ariana-grande-bette-midler.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bette Midler (Kind of) Apologizes for Calling Ariana Grande a 'Whore'  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Nov 26, 2014 3:34 PM CUT  From Left: Bette Midler and Ariana Grande From Left: Bette Midler and Ariana GrandeGetty Images (2)  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Nov 26, 2014 3:34 PM CUT Bette Midler and Ariana Grande seem to have settled their puzzling feud via Twitter. The squabble began Monday when Midler, 68, complained in an [interview](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/11246673/Bette-Midler-It-was-a-wonderful-life.html "undefined") with the _Telegraph_ about today’s young female talent depending too much on their sex appeal. Since complaining about 22-year-old Miley Cyrus’ twerking is apparently _so_ last year, Midler pointed instead to 21-year-old Ariana Grande: --- > “” --- Her advice to stars like Grande? “Trust your talent. You don’t have to make a whore out of yourself to get ahead. You really don’t.” Grande took a break from promoting her new Christmas song [“Santa Tell Me”](http://time.com/3605264/ariana-grande-christmas-single-santa-tell-me/ "undefined") to respond. In a tweet, she questioned Midler’s feminism: > [](https://twitter.com/ArianaGrande/status/537366090087952384) “Bette was always a feminist who stood for women being able to do whatever the F they wanted without judgement! not sure where that Bette went but i want that sexy mermaid back!!! always a fan no matter what my love,” she tweeted. Perhaps in the spirit of the holiday, Grande tweeted later that she harbors no ill will towards Midler: > [](https://twitter.com/ArianaGrande/status/537367326921097218) Midler tweeted back a pseudo-apology: > [](https://twitter.com/BetteMidler/status/537396849682812928) Now everyone can enjoy their Thanksgiving turkey in peace. **MORE:** [Listen to Ariana Grande’s New Christmas Single, “Santa Tell Me”](http://time.com/3605264/ariana-grande-christmas-single-santa-tell-me/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3607291/bette-midler-ariana-grande-whore-feminism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3607291/bette-midler-ariana-grande-whore-feminism/"},"headline":"Bette Midler (Kind of) Apologizes for Calling Ariana Grande a 'Whore'","datePublished":"2014-11-26T15:34:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:24:23.615Z","description":"Midler calls herself a 'reformed whore'","url":"https://time.com/3607291/bette-midler-ariana-grande-whore-feminism/","keywords":["celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf34d2ec87ed93000/69876b335f570f1389b13d1d/ariana-grande-bette-midler.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf34d2ec87ed93000/69876b335f570f1389b13d1d/ariana-grande-bette-midler.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"86th Annual Academy Awards - Arrivals","caption":"86th Annual Academy Awards - Arrivals","creditText":"Getty Images (2)","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3607291/bette-midler-ariana-grande-whore-feminism/","name":"Bette Midler (Kind of) Apologizes for Calling Ariana Grande a 'Whore'"}}]}] ```