Yahoo Finance Mean Girls, Bring It On, Legally Blonde! Every Teen Film in Ariana Grande's 'Thank U, Next' Video
Ariana Grande’s highly anticipated “Thank U, Next” music video is here — and she’s bringing back all the classic teen comedies.
The 25-year-old singer debuted her video on Friday and gave fans a look at the Mean Girls references she’d been teasing in the days leading up to the release.
While Grande stars as Rachel McAdams’ popular Regina George, she also casts herself as other iconic women while singing her farewells to her exes.
RELATED: Ariana Grande Drops Star-Studded ‘Thank U, Next’ Music Video — and Kris Jenner Plays Her Mom!
Mean Girls
The beginning of “Thank U, Next” takes a look back at the rumors sequence from the 2004 Lindsay Lohan classic where students make up wild rumors about the school’s queen bee, Regina.
Jonathan Bennett, who portrayed the school’s resident hot quarterback Aaron Samuels, stars in the video, saying, “Ariana Grande told me my hair looked sexy pushed back. She’s not wrong.”
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Singer Troye Sivan also makes a cameo: “I heard she’s a lesbian now and dating some chick named Aubrey. It’s f—ing sick.”
Mean Girls cast member Stefanie Drummond — who played Bethany Byrd in Mean Girls, the student who famously said, “One time, she punched me in the face. It was awesome” — delivers a jab about Grande’s recent called-off engagement.
“Ariana Grande broke off an engagement, so I found a guy to propose to me and I broke off an engagement,” says Drummond directly to the camera.
Kicking off the song, Grande opens her own Burn Book as she recounts all her past love including Pete Davidson and rapper Mac Miller.
The singer also shares a sweet moment at the end of the video performing the Christmas dance on a high school stage with Kris Jenner making a cameo as Regina’s stage mom (played by Amy Poehler in the film).
Bring It On
Grande also pays homage to the Kristen Dunst, Gabrielle Union 2000 film Bring It On with scenes that mimic the comedy, including a famous bathroom one where Dunst’s character brushes her teeth alongside her crush.
RELATED: Ariana Grande Drops Star-Studded ‘Thank U, Next’ Music Video — and Kris Jenner Plays Her Mom!
Playing around with red and black pompoms, Grande dances around on her bed in another scene reminiscent of the movie.
The film’s rival cheer squads, the Toros and the Clovers, also cheer together on the football field.
13 Going on 30
The “Breathin” singer honors the 2004 Jennifer Garner film as she carries a homemade dollhouse that looks identical to the one created by Mark Ruffalo’s character in the film.
The scene uses the wishing dust that covered the dollhouse to transport Grande into another romcom classic.
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Legally Blonde
Grande stars as her version of Elle Woods from 2001’s Legally Blonde, arriving at Harvard Law School with a pink coat, skirt, sunglasses, heels and her very own pooch to accompany her.
Stopping by a nail salon, Grande brings back Jennifer Coolidge in her role as Paulette, the nail technician that serves as Elle’s good friend in the film.
Complete with a bend and snap scene, Grande also works out in her college dorm room with Elle’s orange MacBook featured as well.
