Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next music video: 7 of the best references and highlights

Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next” music video is finally here, and we’re obsessed with all of the pop culture references, political messages, and celebrity features.

As of late, our lives have revolved around Ariana Grande, and we’re definitely okay with that. Somehow, there’s only a month in this calendar year and Grande has released a new album (Sweetener), finally earning a more than a well-deserved spot of the Billboard Hot 100 list, and releases a musical and emotional docuseries on YouTube. However, she didn’t stop there; she also released her single “thank u, next,” and the nostalgic-ridden music video is finally here.

We’ll never get over this music video, but we’re perfectly over that because there’s a lot to unpack in the “thank u, next” music video. The teaser for the music video alone made us hyper for its debut. After all, how could we not be excited to see Colleen Ballinger, Troye Sivan, and Jonathan Bennett?

From celebrity cameos, political messages, apologies, hidden messages, and pop culture messages choosing our top seven favorite moments in the video is nearly impossible—but we managed to do it.

1. Grande teamed up with some friends

Whether you paused on the Mean Girls, Bring It On, or 13 Going on 30 segments of Grande’s “thank u, next” music video, you likely saw a familiar face from the Victorious cast. Matt Bennett (from Victorious) portrayed an adorable Robbie Shapiro in the even more adorkable spoof of the Bring It On bathroom scene. Meanwhile, Jade West (from Victorious) took on an incarnation of Mean Girls’ Cady Heron.

We could go on, but if you, for whatever reason, need to pause the music video you’ll likely stop on a celeb.

2. Reference to fan-led theories

None of Grande’s fans were prepared the moment “thank u, next” debuted, and nobody was prepared for the Twitter-verse’s reactions to mishearing the lyrics, “But this one gon’ last, ‘cause her name is Air,” as “her name is Aubrey.” Needless, we sapphics were prematurely ecstatic to accept her into our community.

Naturally, Grande used this viral mistake as fuel for the intro into her video, specifically where artist Troye Sivan says, “I heard she’s a lesbian and in love with a girl named Aubrey.”

3. Apology to Pete

That’s right: At the beginning of the video, she includes a quick frame with an apology to her recent ex, Pete Davidson. As she closes her “Thank u, next” book, which is obviously a spin on the burn book in Mean Girls, viewers see a snippet of a page that says, “Sorry I dipped, Pete.”

We’ve read the headlines. We’ve read the post-breakup articles and interviews. However, we don’t really know what happened during Davidson and Grande’s relationship and subsequent engagement. Regardless, we’re glad to see that Grande can use her video to envision our favorite movies in a musical format, thoroughly entertain us, and gain some form of closure (even just for herself) on her former relationships.

4. The momager had a featurette

Kris Jenner—you know, one of the most iconic momagers—took on the even more iconic role of Regina George’s mother. Jenner even got to say “You’re doing great, sweetie.”

5. She gets political

In her moments as Elle Woods, Grande takes a jab at Donald Trump, like the royalty she is.

While basking on campus, you can clearly see Grande reading a book entitled, Immigration and Refugee Law and Policy. This could be a simply off-hand Easter egg, but Billboard reports that Grande’s mom Joan Grande all but confirmed that this inclusion was used as a prime way for Grande to flex on the president’s immigration policies.

Thank you, yes. (Don’t @ us.)

6. Giving us major 13 Going On 30 nostalgia

After giving us Mean Girls and Bring It On vibes, Grande also reminded us of our teenage-turned-adulthood crush we have on Mark Ruffalo—specifically when he portrayed Matty in 13 Going On 30, in other words, the best cinematic friend-turned-boyfriend ever (we said what we said).

Midway through the video, Grande looks distraught as she holds a dollhouse as a wedding precession gears up in the out-of-focused background. Conveniently, Grande’s time as Jenna Rink overlaps her “thank u, next” lyrics that reference when she gets married.

Apart from influencing us into a compulsory 13 Going On 30-themed night in, it also helped us realize we absolutely needed to see Grande as Jenna, complete with her handmade Grande dolls within her dollhouse. She might have broken our hearts all over again by recreating that scene, but we totally forgive Grande.

By the way, Ruffalo approves.

7. Legally Grande

Elle Woods also got the Grande treatment in the “thank u, next” music video.

Donning the canon princess pink from Legally Blonde, Grande recreated the nail salon scene from the first film that inspired us all to be professional just to spite our exes and subsequently makes ourselves better people.

Since Grande—her music and music videos included—redefines the term extra with anything she does, her time as Elle Woods also included Jennifer Coolidge, who played Paulette in the original film. And Coolidge (as Paulette) and Grande shared an interesting convo about teeth preferences in the dating scene.

The “thank u, next” music video is so fetch that there are at least half a dozen references and cameos that we didn’t get to include in this list. If the last few months say anything about the new year, then we can’t wait to see Grande rule 2019. Until then, we’ll be watching this on repeat, and waiting for Ariana Grande to drop the video with all the outtakes and deleted scenes.