Whether you’re a regular-degular plebeian or a pop superstar with a reported net worth of half a billion dollars, there’s one thing we can all agree on: Penn Badgley is “so hot.”
Ariana Grande says so herself in the video for her new single, “The Boy Is Mine.” The six-minute-plus visual not only recruits the You star to play an attractive young mayor presiding over a Gotham City–esque municipality, but also ropes in R&B stars Brandy and Monica, who released the original 1998 hit that inspired Grande’s Eternal Sunshine track of the same name.
Directed by Christian Breslauer, the new video opens with a shot of a garbageman getting attacked by a trash-dwelling rat, and then sets the scene by showing Grande preparing a love potion for Mayor Max Starling (Badgley), as a TV set broadcasts the news in the background. News anchors Brandy and Monica discuss their high hopes for the newly elected Starling, who promises to eradicate the city’s rat problem by unleashing a gang of hungry stray cats. “That’s fucking brilliant,” Grande mutters to the television. “So hot.”
Grande—who worships at an altar of Max Starling–themed effigies—then embarks on a mission to get her love potion into the mayor. In doing so, she dons a costume not so dissimilar from Catwoman’s, complete with a glossy black leather minidress, a sheer patchwork turtleneck, and a black gauzy cap adorned with kitten ears.
Upon zeroing in on the mayor’s location, Grande attempts to serve him a dose of the elixir—but he rejects it. Instead, he tenderly lifts the mask up off of Grande’s face and throws the bottle against the wall. She never needed a magical concoction to make Starling fall in love with her after all!
Badgley isn’t the only internet boyfriend to recently appear in the Ariana Grande cinematic universe. The pop star previously enlisted Evan Peters to play an ex in the video for “We Can’t Be Friends,” which dropped on March 8.
As an associate editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com, Chelsey keeps a finger on the pulse on all things celeb news. She also writes on social movements, connecting with activists leading the fight on workers’ rights, climate justice, and more. Offline, she’s probably spending too much time on TikTok, rewatching Emma (the 2020 version, of course), or buying yet another corset.
