Bette Midler slams pop stars for selling sex, calls Ariana Grande ‘silly beyond belief’

BETTE Midler has slammed young female pop stars, singling out Ariana Grande’s efforts to be sexy as “silly beyond belief”.

Not impressed ... Bette Midler has a message to today’s young pop stars, telling them they don’t need to sell their sexuality to make it in the music business. Picture: Getty

BETTE Midler has had a crack at pop stars who use sex appeal to sell albums, declaring in a new interview that they don’t have to act like “whores” to make it in the music business.

The entertainment icon had a few words of advice for young women wanting a career in music, with some harsh words for “silly beyond belief” Ariana Grande.

“Trust your talent,” she said, in an interview with The Telegraph UK.

“You don’t have to make a whore out of yourself to get ahead. You really don’t.”

Midler slammed the sexualisation of young female pop stars, saying “it’s terrible!”

Not holding back ... Midler says singers should trust in their talent, not just sell as sexy image, if they want to last in the music business. Picture: Getty

“It’s always surprising to see someone like Ariana Grande with that silly high voice, a very wholesome voice, slithering around on a couch looking so ridiculous.

“I mean, it’s silly beyond belief and I don’t know who’s telling her to do it.”

Midler added that she understood it wasn’t Grande’s doing as much as those who managed her. “I wish they’d stop. But it’s not my business, I’m not her mother. Or her manager,” Midler said. “Maybe they tell them that’s what you’ve got to do. Sex sells. Sex has always sold.”

Not buying it ... Midler singled out Ariana Grande as “silly beyond belief” for trying to act sexy while singing in her “silly high voice”. Picture: AP

Midler recalled a time when things were infinitely more innocent.

“Whatever strictures there were have fallen apart,” she said.

“And now it’s whatever you feel like doing you can do. I mean, apparently people really like to pretend they’re having sex. They really like to slap each other’s butts.

But it wasn’t only Grande in the firing line, Midler also had a go at The Spice Girls.

“I couldn’t think of a girl group that was modern who had a song as meaningful as [the one by] TLC,” she said.

Not necessary ... Midler says singers don’t need to act like “whores” if they are truly talented. Picture: News Corp

“I couldn’t find one. I mean, who are you talking about? The Spice Girls? … I like Destiny’s Child. I think that was the last great girl band there was.”

Still, Midler conceded that she might be the one who might have been a bit out of touch.

“I mean, don’t ask me. It’s beyond me. I’m too old. I don’t know what the end game is going to be.

“I don’t know where you go from all that sex in your twenties. I don’t know how you sustain it.”

Originally published as Bette Midler slams pop stars for selling sex, calls Ariana Grande ‘silly beyond belief’