Fortunata / Splash NewsAriana Grande is talking doughnut-gate (again).
Back in July, the 22-year-old pop star found herself on the receiving end of rampant criticism after surveillance footage released by TMZ showed her licking doughnuts she didn't pay for at Wolfee Donuts in Lake Elsinore, Calif., and then telling backup dancer-turned boyfriend Ricky Alvarez, "I hate Americans. I hate America."
Following the backlash, she issued not just one but two apologies (her first attempt to say sorry was widely criticized), and she addressed the widespread disapproval in an interview on Tuesday with Good Morning America, which marked her first live television interview since the scandal.
"First of all, I mean my behavior was very offensive and I apologized," the "Break Free" beauty, who was also promoting her new fragrance, said. "There is no excuse and there is nothing to justify it. But you know, I think that as human beings we all say and do things that we don't mean at all sometimes and we have to learn from it. That's part of our process. We have to learn from our mistakes and that's how we grow."
Asked to share what she's learned from that experience, Grande replied, "I think one of the biggest things I learned from that is what it feels like to disappoint so many people who love and believe in you and that's an excruciating feeling and you have to remember your word, your actions have, you know, ramifications and you have to really think about what you're about to say and do because it's important."
She added: "It's important to so many people."
Grande previously released a statement to E! News in July in response to the flurry of negative headlines.
"I am EXTREMELY proud to be an American and I've always made it clear that I love my country," the actress said. "What I said in a private moment with my friend, who was buying the donuts, was taken out of context and I am sorry for not using more discretion with my choice of words.
"As an advocate for healthy eating, food is very important to me and I sometimes get upset by how freely we as Americans eat and consume things without giving any thought to the consequences that it has on our health and society as a whole," she continued. "The fact that the United States has one of the highest child obesity rates in the world frustrates me. We need to do more to educate ourselves and our children about the dangers of overeating and the poison that we put into our bodies. We need to demand more from our food industry."
She concluded by saying: "However I should have known better in how I expressed myself; and with my new responsibility to others as a public figure I will strive to be better. As for why I cannot be at the MLB show, I have had emergency oral surgery and due to recovery I cannot attend the show. I hope to make it up to all those fans soon. That being said let me once again apologize if I have offended anyone with my poor choice of words."
Meanwhile, Grande is currently promoting her new fragrance, and she plans to release new music in the very near future.
"I'm announcing the first single really soon," Grande said on GMA. "Like this week soon. Really soon."