Was there ever bad blood between Victoria Justice and Ariana Grande? Back when they shared Nickelodeon airtime filming Victorious from 2010 to 2013, fans were convinced they had beef. Victoria and Ariana played on-screen besties, but the pop culture world believed they secretly hated each other IRL. 

Although Victoria has gone out of her way to shut down the narrative of a feud between them, rumors continue to circulate anyway. Here’s what Victoria just revealed about some super serious death threats she once received from Ariana’s most devoted fan base.

Why Did Victoria Justice Get Wild Death Threats?

Victoria opened up about her personal life during an interview on Last Meals via Entertainment Weekly. She says her life was flipped upside down in 2017 after a viral meme was created from an interview moment taken out of context.

She explained, “It was definitely a thing where it was like, ‘The internet hates Victoria Justice right now.’ There was a time for so long on the internet where I felt like people hated me. It was a thing. It can really be a ruthless place … Mob mentality is such a real thing.”

Ariana’s “mob” of fans went after Victoria because Elizabeth Gillies (another actress from Victorious) was recorded describing how beautiful it was to hear Ariana singing all the time. She claimed Ariana would sing more than she’d talk in a normal voice. In the clip, Victoria cut in to say, “I think we ALL sing.”

Fans didn’t respond well to that. They felt like Victoria tried to steal the spotlight away from Ariana with that comment. The backlash Victoria got was aggressive. She says the comment was taken out of context. According to Victoria, she wasn’t trying to steal Ariana’s shine in the slightest.

Victoria went on record saying, “I think the media outlet that put it out put this whole spin on it. Man, I dunno, it must have been a really slow news day for them, because I swear to God, I think when they published that, I don’t even know how many years later it was. I was like way into my 20s, from an interview I did when I was like 16.”

The damage to Victoria’s reputation took a massive hit at the time, and that’s partly due to how outspoken Ariana’s dedicated fan base is. 

Victoria rehashed the trauma, saying, “I got all this hate. So much hate! I got so much hate, dude. I got, like, death threats. I felt bad for my mom ’cause she was looking at all this stuff online, and she was like, she was freaking out. And I’m always kinda like, ‘Oh, whatever. People are gonna say what they’re gonna say.’ But yeah, it really took on a life of its own and became a thing.”

Back in 2013, Ariana did her best to clear the air by dropping a statement with Seventeen Magazine. She said, “My years filming Victorious were some of the HAPPIEST of my life, and that cast is family to me.” 

If Ariana was truly pissed off while working alongside Victoria, would she have been cool sharing such a glowing comment like that? As of 2025, you won’t likely catch paparazzi shots of Ariana and Victoria hanging out and buddying up. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re enemies who are secretly praying for each other’s downfall. As Victoria said, sometimes the media negatively spins different headlines for the worst!