Leighton Meester has resolved his awkward exchange with Ariana Grande at January’s Critics’ Choice Awards.
The moment made headlines at the awards show on January 4, when Grande walked past Meester and exclaimed, “I love you so much! Wow, wow, that’s amazing,” to which Miester cheekily replied, “Wow, wow, wow.”
While some thought the Gossip Girl alum, 39, was making fun of the Wicked songstress, 32, Meester explained that Grande might be making fun of her because her husband Adam Brody won in 2025 for “Nobody Wants This” at the same ceremony.
She was with her publicist when the “Wicked” star “said something” to her, Meester recalled on Wednesday’s episode of her podcast “Pod Crushed.”
“And when Kate[her publicist]turned around, we both heard her say, ‘Hey, I love you. Wow, Wow, Wow.’
“I couldn’t hear her,” Meester continued. “She was like, walking away. And I was like, ‘Oh, she’s kind of the comedy queen. She’s just funny.'” I was like, “I love you.” Wow, wow, wow.” Oh, I thought she would do that. ”
She added, “So I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is cute and funny.'”
Meester then said he simply misunderstood what the Nickelodeon alum had said.
“It turns out she didn’t say that,” she said, adding, “I met her the following week,” and tried to explain the “embarrassing” mistake.
“And she goes, ‘Did you think I said wah, wah, wah? That’s so funny.'” And I thought, “No, it’s the old man’s fault for being deaf.” Well, that’s very embarrassing. ”
A representative for Grande did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
Meester faced backlash online last month after E! shared the encounter on Instagram. news.
One person said: “Leighton Meester’s ‘wow wow wow’ was said in a teasing tone,” while another wondered: “Is she making fun of her?”
Some saw no harm in Meester’s light-hearted response.
“I don’t know why some of the comments are being serious when even if they were teasing her it was being done in a lighthearted way lol I thought it was funny and cute,” one person said, while another chimed in, “This is so sweet, they’re both amazing women.”
