Ariana Grande declined the chance to explain, address, or backpedal her skepticism about the 1969 moon landing upon her highly anticipated return to the Vanity Fair lie detector test.
During last year’s wild Wicked press tour, Grande appeared on the same YouTube series, where her co-star Cynthia Erivo asked if she thought the moon landing was fake. Grande replied, “No,” but the polygraph machine ruled her answer “inconclusive.” Her subsequent insistence that she did not believe the moon landing conspiracy also showed some deception.
The viral moment was, of course, addressed when Grande returned to the hot seat with Bowen Yang as the two promoted Wicked: For Good. When Yang asked Grande if she would like a chance to redeem herself, she curtly replied, “No. I want to move past it.”
But Yang did not let this very pressing issue die. He asked Grande if she believed in the moon itself, to which she said, “I do.” He then asked if she believed there was a flag planted on the moon, to which Grande coyly replied, “You know, I hear both arguments.”
Grande then added forcefully, “The truth is, I don’t give a rat’s ass. I’m worried about Earth, god dammit! We’re burning alive! We’re killing each other! Can we worry about Earth for five minutes? Who gives a fuck about the moon and the flag?”
Elsewhere during the lie detector test, Yang interrogated Grande about group chats and attending Wimbledon with their co-star, Jonathan Bailey. Yang even got Grande to do her extremely impressive Lorne Michaels impression as she told the story of how she called the Saturday Night Live boss personally to convince him to let Yang take part in Wicked, despite some tricky scheduling.
When Grande got the chance to turn the tables, she asked him several questions about the kiss they shared during a SNL sketch, including whether he thought Grande was a good kisser. Yang replied, “Yeah, you were really good,” though his answer was ruled “inconclusive.”
