Ariana Grandes Catwoman Stalks Mayor Penn Badgley in The Boy Is Mine Video

July 2024 · 4 minute read

Ariana Grande has debuted a theatrical new music video for “The Boy Is Mine,” the third single from her Billboard chart-topping album “Eternal Sunshine.”

The Christian Breslauer-directed visual sees the singer transform into Catwoman in order to capture the heart of a hunky mayor, played by “Gossip Girl” star Penn Badgley, who has released feral cats into the streets to eradicate a rat infestation. The video also features a cameo from Monica and Brandy, who duetted on the 1998 song “The Boy Is Mine” — which Grande said inspired her own version — as news anchors reporting on the rat crisis.

Rumors of Badgley’s involvement in the video began swirling earlier last week when Grande posted film photos of her on the set of the music video. She appears to be standing in front of a portrait, with surrounding cutout hearts that read “True Love” and “Be Mine.” She later posted more images of the hand-drawn picture which revealed Badgley as the video’s star.

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Badgley follows Evan Peters as the latest male actor to make a cameo in a Grande music video, after her recent video for “We Can’t Be Friends,” the second single from her new album. That video paid homage to “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” which the album was named after. “Yes, And” preceded the album as the first single.

Meanwhile, Grande has been hard at work promoting her upcoming role as Glinda the Good Witch in the first part of the long-awaited “Wicked” movie musical, opposite Cynthia Erivo‘s Elphaba. Universal recently unveiled the first full trailer for the film which finally showed Grande and Erivo singing two of the show’s anthems, “Popular” and “Defying Gravity.” The first installment of the film is scheduled for Nov. 27 with the sequel to follow on Nov. 26, 2025. 

Watch the video for “The Boy Is Mine” below.

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