The family of one of Jeffrey Dahmer‘s victims is speaking out, slamming Ariana Grande for once saying she’d be interested in having a sit down with the late serial killer.
ICYMI … the pop star’s gotten some backlash this week for a recent podcast interview where she recounted saying Dahmer — who killed and dismembered 17 men over a 13-year period — was her dream dinner guest.
6/17/24
Podcrushed
Ari says she’d shared that tidbit with a group of young fans during a Q&A early in her career.
That revelation does not sit well with the loved ones of Tony Hughes — a deaf, non-verbal victim Dahmer targeted and killed in 1991.
Shirley, Tony’s mother, tells TMZ … she hopes Ariana understands how hurtful her comments are, noting the confession made her emotional.
She was also disturbed when Ariana laughed during the podcast about her Dahmer fascination. Shirley wants the singer, and the general public, to know she and other victims’ families experience very real pain any time Dahmer is brought up.
She adds … “To me, it seems like she’s sick in her mind. It’s not fancy or funny to say you would have wanted to do dinner with him. It’s also not something you should say to young people, which she says she did.”
Shirley says she finds it troubling Ari didn’t seem to show any empathy for the victims’ loved ones.
Tony’s sister, Barbara, shares a similar sentiment … saying the comments glamorize Dahmer, who was beaten to death in prison in 1994. She’d love to see Ariana apologize, so her fans know this isn’t right.
Now, the reality is Ariana’s hardly the only person plugging in to true crime stories like Dahmer. The genre’s a huge moneymaker for TV, movies, streaming services and book publishers.
In fact, Tony’s family was just as outraged when the Netflix series, “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” came out with Evan Peters playing the infamous cannibal.
Creator Ryan Murphy defended his project at the time, saying they did lots of research and reached out to 20 victims’ families and friends, but never got a response.
Barbara summed up her response to Ariana, telling us “Unfortunately, until it happens to her and her family, she just doesn’t know what we have been through.”