AMBER MATTICE
Managing Editor
So I know this is a little late. Mac Miller died on Sept. 7 this year. While it was at the beginning of the month, this is something I’ve been ruminating on since people started speaking about his death and have only recently formulated my thoughts enough to write an entire article. So here we go.
His death was tragic, of course. We can all agree that Miller had struggled with addiction and him losing his battle is extremely sad. However, this does not excuse the slew of horrible people that decided to start attacking Ariana Grande and blaming her for his early passing. It absolutely does not matter that they had recently broken up or that she got into a relationship shortly after or even that she became engaged. She fell in love and is living her life, as she should. But that’s not what I am here to talk about.
The main point of this is to bring attention to the fact that addiction, of any kind, is a disease. It is not a choice that people actively make to intentionally ruin their lives. No one in their right mind would want to destroy their relationships, careers or futures for a high but people do because their bodies are no longer their own.
Similarly, no one who has a loved one that struggles with addiction wants to leave them behind while they are struggling. It is incredibly painful to watch someone you love go through that disease but there also has to come a time where you choose yourself in that battle. There is a point in which it is more dangerous and detrimental to stay with that person and, no matter how hard it is, you have to do what is best for your own mental health. It is not selfish and I cannot even fathom how people had the audacity to call Ariana Grande a murderer on her Instagram posts.
With the death of Mac Miller, she was absolutely living her worst possible nightmare. Miller and Grande had probably talked about this outcome before when he was struggling and to actually have to live through losing him was incredibly hard for her. To see that, you simply have to look at the posts she made after his passing. On Sept. 14 she posted a video with the caption, “ I adored you from the day I met you when I was nineteen and always will. I can’t believe you aren’t here anymore. I really can’t wrap my head around it. we talked about this. so many times. I’m so mad, I’m so sad I don’t know what to do. you were my dearest friend. for so long. above everything else. I’m so sorry I couldn’t fix or take your pain away. I really wanted to. the kindest, sweetest soul with demons he never deserved. I hope you’re okay now. rest.”
As someone who has loved ones that have struggled with addiction, and continue to do so, it is horrifying to think about what could happen to them. They don’t realize that what they are doing is destroying themselves. They can’t worry about how hard it is for you because all they are able to focus on is getting what they need. The disease of drug addiction is painful, blinding and heartbreaking. It is a battle that never stops. No matter how much “better” they seem to be doing, an addict is always an addict and always has the potential to fall back into those habits.
Miller dealt with hardships and suffered through them. It is so sad that he died the way that he did. Grande supported him in every way that she could for as long as she could. For people to attack her on so many different social media platforms when she was literally living her worst nightmare is cruel and genuinely just fucked up. She didn’t deserve it. And I was so incredibly angry when I saw all of the hate being directed at her. Miller’s death was not her fault just as the death of any loved one dealing with addiction is not the fault of their family and friends. Just because she is a public figure does not mean she isn’t human. To be isolated in that way while she was going through the death of one of the people closest to her is obscene.
People need to gather a better understanding of drug addiction and the damage it does to all of the people affected, not just the person physically doing them. Watching someone fall apart over time because of their addiction is painful. The process of them getting better is a long and hard one.
In order to understand how Grande feels right now, you have to have been personally affected by drug addiction in some way. You have to have lost or almost lost people you love. If you didn’t, quite frankly, you don’t get to have an opinion or comment on his death. You don’t get to say that it is her fault. Drug addiction is a hard topic but it needs to be understood and addressed in a compassionate way. It is a disease that so many people deal with every single day. If you are incapable of understanding that, you do not get to say anything about Ariana Grande, Mac Miller or what it’s like to go through something like this.