Ariana Grande‘s claws come out in her new “The Boy Is Mine” music video, which arrived Friday morning (June 7) featuring surprise cameos from Brandy and Monica.
The visual begins with Grande watching a press conference introduced by TV news anchors played by Brandy and Monica, who sang the original 1998 hit “The Boy Is Mine” together. The iconic song spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the year it was released, and served as the clear inspiration for the “Into You” singer’s track of the same name.
It then cuts to the mayor of their Gotham-esque city, portrayed by Penn Badgley, proposing a new idea for getting rid of the area’s rat infestation — rounding up stray cats and setting them loose on the vermin — which leads the singer to hatch a plan to transform herself into a sort of Cat Woman and sneak into his apartment.
While there, she attempts to seduce him, ensnares him in a lasso and comes close to injecting him with love potion. Badgley, however, distracts her by removing her mask and staring sensuously into her eyes before throwing the potion against the wall.
Grande has been teasing the new video all week, and at one point fueled rumors that Badgley would be her male lead by posting a TikTok video of him dancing to “The Boy Is Mine.” The night before the visual dropped, she performed the sultry track on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where she also opened up about her love for the Gossip Girl alum.
“I’ve been a fan of [him] my entire life,” she told Fallon. “It was just so amazing to work with him. I’m such a fan.”
“The Boy Is Mine” is the third single off Grande’s Billboard 200-topping album Eternal Sunshine, as well as its third track to get the music video treatment. She previously released a Paula Abdul-inspired, choreography-filled visual for lead single “Yes, And?,” which was followed by an Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind tribute starring Evan Peters for “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love).” Both tracks hit No. 1 on the Hot 100.
Watch Grande, Badgley, Brandy and Monica in “The Boy Is Mine” music video above.
