After days of social media teasers and behind-the-scenes clips and photos, Ariana Grande dropped the much-anticipated music video for her hit single, “thank u, next” on Friday, November 30. As promised, it’s full of meme-worthy movie references and celeb cameos. Watch the video below, and see if you can spot all of these pop culture Easter eggs.
1. The “Who is Regina George?” scene from Mean Girls.
As first teased on Instagram, the music video features a parody of the scene from Mean Girls in which various students share some of the legends and rumors about Regina George (Rachel McAdams). In this case, though, everyone is talking not about Regina George but about Ariana Grande.
“One time on Twitter, I heard Ariana was pregnant, so I got pregnant so we could be pregnant at the same time,” YouTuber Colleen Ballinger says. “Turns out it was just a rumor.” The camera then pans out to show Ballinger’s baby bump.
Bonus Easter egg: Jonathan Bennett, who played Aaron Samuels in Mean Girls, makes a cameo and references the line from the original movie about Regina/Ariana thinking his hair looks “sexy pushed back.”
2. The Mean Girls Burn Book.
In one of the first scenes after the intro, Grande — in full Regina George mode, complete with a blonde wig — lies on her bed while adding pictures and notes to her “Burn Book,” which, in the film, Regina and the Plastics used to make fun of people they didn’t like. Grande’s version of the book has the same title as her song and includes references to some of her famous exes, including Pete Davidson, Big Sean, Ricky Alvarez, and the late Mac Miller.
3. The “Jingle Bell Rock” scene from Mean Girls.
In a scene meant to echo the Plastics’ Christmas performance, Grande takes center stage alongside Ballinger, Gabi DeMartino, and Lindsay Lohan look-alike Elizabeth Gillies, who costarred with Grande on Victorious. As in the film, the ladies wear sexy Santa-inspired costumes to perform a choreographed dance, which combines the Plastics’ original routine with some new moves specific to “thank u, next.”
The scene is capped off with an appearance by none other than Kris Jenner, who steps into Amy Poehler’s former role as a “cool mom,” not a “regular mom.”
4. The tooth-brushing scene from Bring It On.
In the next verse, Grande re-creates the bathroom scene between Torrance (Kirsten Dunst) and Cliff (Jesse Bradford) from Bring It On. Fellow Victorious alum Matt Bennett plays Grande’s love interest, who flirts with her as they stand side by side, brushing their teeth and exchanging playful, telling glances. Who knew spitting out toothpaste could be cute?
5. The mixtape scene from Bring It On.
The Bring It On fun continues with a reference to the mixtape scene from the movie, when Torrance starts dancing in her room to a song Cliff wrote for her. In the movie, the tape read, “To Torrance, From Cliff.” But in Grande’s version, it’s “To Ari, From Ari.” (And we’re so good with that.)
6. The cheerleading rivalry from Bring It On.
The singer swaps her mic for pom-poms to cheer against the Clovers, a rival cheerleading team. Ultimately, though, while there are a few competitive moments between the two squads, the women are more interested in teaming up than bringing each other down.
The uniforms for both squads are almost identical to the uniforms worn by the Toros and the Clovers in the movie, with one notable difference: Grande’s uniform reads “TUN” for “thank u, next.”
7. The dollhouse from 13 Going on 30.
During the next verse, as Grande sings about walking down the aisle, we see her walking away from a wedding with a dollhouse in her arms — a reference to 13 Going on 30, when Jenna (Jennifer Garner) runs after her childhood BFF Matt (Mark Ruffalo), only to learn he’s about to marry someone else. Grande carries the dollhouse next door, where, as she cries over her missed opportunity, some leftover wishing dust swirls around her.
Ruffalo reacted to Grande’s video on Twitter with a reference of his own, writing, “Having some Razzles (it’s a candy AND a gum) in your honor, @ArianaGrande!”
Having some Razzles (it’s a candy AND a gum) in your honor, @ArianaGrande! #thankunext https://t.co/5QA1pNtbiO
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) November 30, 2018
8. The Elle at Harvard montage from Legally Blonde.
While the wishing dust in 13 Going on 30 took Jenna back to her childhood so she could redo things with Matt, the wishing dust in “thank u, next” takes Grande to Harvard, where she channels Reese Witherspoon’s iconic Legally Blonde character, Elle Woods, complete with a sweet little pup and orange MacBook. There are references to several scenes from the movie in this section (including Elle’s elliptical workout and arrival at Harvard), not to mention a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it political statement.
9. The “Bend and Snap” scene from Legally Blonde.
Toward the end of the song, the video cuts to a scene in a nail salon, where Grande sits opposite none other than Legally Blonde actress Jennifer Coolidge, who reprises her role as the beloved nail artist Paulette. “I mean, he was really cute. And it was really big,” Grande tells Coolidge, who replies, “Well, I’ve only gone out with one guy that had a big front tooth. And I liked it, because he never got anything stuck in the front teeth.”
That leads into a montage of scenes from all of the aforementioned rom-coms, including the grand finale: the “Bend and Snap” scene from Legally Blonde. There’s even an appearance from a handsome delivery man who works for — wait for it — BDE.
Which of the four movies referenced in Ariana Grande’s video is your favorite? Let us know @BritandCo!
(photo via Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
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Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
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You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures