Ariana Grande To Earn £250k For Manchester Pride Gig

Ariana Grande is set to earn £250,000 for headlining Manchester Pride, because organisers were keen to get her to agree to the performance.

Ariana Grande is set to earn £250,000 for headlining Manchester Pride.

The 25-year-old singer was confirmed this week to be the headline act at the annual LGBTQ event later this year, and it has now been reported she will bank the eye-watering sum for her performance, as organisers were desperate to get her on board.

A source told The Sun newspaper: ''Ariana is expected to bank £250,000 for her appearance at Manchester Pride.

''Ariana is like gold dust at the moment, so the organisers offered her top whack to take part.''

The price tag attached to the '7 Rings' hitmaker's performance comes after she recently hit out at critics who blamed her for the increase in ticket prices to the event.

She said: ''I have nothing to do with ticket pricing - Manchester Pride sets those rates, and they're mostly out of my control.''

And Ariana - who will be returning to Manchester two years after the terror attack that claimed the lives of 22 people at her concert - also defended her performance from critics who claimed she shouldn't be headlining the event because she's not an LGBTQ artist.

Taking to Twitter, she wrote: ''The LGBTQ community has been so special to me and supportive throughout my entire career. The relationships i have with my LGBTQ fans, friends, and family make me so so happy. ''I want to celebrate and support this community, regardless of my identity or how people label me. and also i wanna visit a city that means so much to me. LGBTQ representation is incredibly important, and I'm always proud to share the stage with LGBTQ artists!

''Over the years, pride events have been headlined by performers and artists of all sexual orientations and genders, including straight allies like Cher and Kylie Minogue. i do think there's room for us to talk about these issues without equating a performance *for* an LGBTQ audience with exploitation of the LGBTQ community. (sic)''