Leighton Meester is finally clearing up what really happened during her now-viral red carpet interaction with Ariana Grande at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards — and no, it wasn’t shade.
If you were online the night of the ceremony, you probably saw the clip. Ariana, walking past Leighton on the carpet, enthusiastically called out, “Love you so much. Wow, wow wow.” The camera then cut to Leighton, who repeated, “Wow, wow, wow,” before laughing.
Within hours, social media had opinions. Some viewers interpreted the moment as playful mimicry. Others assumed it was mockery. And as is often the case with short red carpet clips, context disappeared fast.
Now, Meester is explaining exactly what happened — and it turns out the whole thing was just a simple misunderstanding.
Speaking on Penn Badgley’s Podcrushed podcast, Leighton broke it down from her perspective.
“I was with Kate [my publicist]. And [Ariana] said something to me,” Leighton recalled. “And then Kate turns around, and we both heard that [Ariana said], ‘Hi, I love you. Wah, wah, wah.’”
That slight mishearing changed everything.
In Leighton’s mind, Ariana wasn’t just greeting her — she was joking. And specifically, Leighton believed Ariana was playfully referencing a moment from the previous year’s ceremony, when Leighton had gotten emotional after her husband Adam Brody won an award.
The timing made sense to her.
“I couldn’t hear her. She was, like, walking away. And I was like, ‘Oh, she’s kind of a comedy queen. She’s just being funny.’ Like, ‘I love you. Wah, wah, wah.’ Like, I thought that would be something she would do,” Leighton explained. “And so I was like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s cute and funny.’”
So when Leighton echoed the phrase back — laughing — she genuinely thought she was participating in the joke.
Except there was no joke.
As she later realized, Ariana hadn’t said “wah, wah, wah” at all. She had simply said “wow.”
Once Leighton figured it out, she didn’t let the awkwardness linger. She addressed it directly the next time she saw Ariana.
“Turns out she didn’t say that. And then I saw her, like, the next week, and I was like, ‘I have to tell you, like, I thought [you said that],’” Leighton shared. “And she’s like, ‘You thought I said wah, wah, wah? That’s so funny.’ And I was like, ‘No, it’s an old person not being able to hear.’ Like, that is so embarrassing.”
