Ariana Grande bridged the gap between hip-hop icons Brandy and Monica, despite rumors the pair had bad blood.
The 30-year-old hitmaker — who recently glammed up in a sexy leather Catwoman costume — released her own take on their 1998 hit and dropped a music video with the original singers making an appearance.
Monica told ET on Friday, ‘The process of the new collaboration did a lot of closing the gaps.’
‘When you properly communicate something, you can find not only the resolutions and solutions to problems, but sometimes you find that there weren’t ever problems, just consistent miscommunications,’ the 43-year-old singer said.
‘It made it a lot easier just to talk,’ she said of Grande reuniting her and Brandy.
Ariana Grande bridged the gap between hip-hop icons Brandy and Monica, despite rumors the pair had bad blood; Ariana seen in 2024
Monica told ET on Friday, ‘The process of the new collaboration did a lot of closing the gaps’; Brandy and Monica pictured in 2024
In the 7 Ring’s hitmaker’s music video, Brandy and Monica play news anchors and which in turn resulted in the two spending more time catching up.
After the R&B singers’ original 90s hit, it was rumored that their on-camera rivalry over a man turned into real life rift in their friendship.
Years later the pair was still not as close as they had been, despite reconnecting briefly in 2020.
Monica shared, ‘We recognized that the key was to keep other people out of our relationship, both business and personal, and let it be between she and I, and that has changed everything. It’s changed the trajectory of it in its totality.
‘My son was in the hospital the other day and she was who I was speaking to while he was there, so I think that is what Ariana has done that she may not even realize,’ she added, noting that she and Brandy spoke more during filming than in the last 20 years.
Just months ago Grande said on The Zane Lowe Show that their 1998 hit inspired her when she was writing her eight studio album, Eternal Sunshine.
The Angel of Mine singer initially stood by her claims that the original release ‘should not be touched.’
Brandy and Monica made surprise cameos in the music video despite not being featured in the 2024 remake
Grande portrayed a woman living in a rat-infested city who transforms into Catwoman and stalks the mayor
After the R&B singers’ original 90s hit, it was rumored that their on-camera rivalry over a man turned into real life rift in their friendship; Brandy seen in 1998
Monica shared, ‘We recognized that the key was to keep other people out of our relationship, both business and personal, and let it be between she and I, and that has changed everything’; Brandy and Monica seen in 1998
‘And I said that because I felt that it did not need to be redone in the idea of, let’s say, actually doing it the exact way that it was,’ Monica told the outlet.
‘But Ariana and [producer] Max Martin — as soon as I heard this version, I fell in love with it,’ she finished.
Brandy and Monica made surprise cameos in the music video despite not being featured in the 2024 remake.
Grande portrayed a woman living in a rat-infested city who transforms into Catwoman and stalks the mayor – played by Penn Badgley The actor notably plays a stalker in the hit Netflix series, You.