Frankie Grande forgives the two teens who viciously mugged him in New York City last year.
“All I can hope and pray is that the people who attacked me get the love and care that they need in order [to] know that’s not the way they need to live the rest of their lives,” the “Big Brother” alum told Pvnew exclusively at the 2023 GLAAD Media Awards on Saturday.
“I hope they get that.”
Grande, 40, was violently assailed by a 13-year-old and a 17-year-old in November 2022 while walking on Eighth Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets around 6 p.m.
Police said the Broadway performer was smashed in the back of the head and then robbed of his Louis Vuitton bag, which held his iPhone, AirPods, a pair of sunglasses and a wallet. (The attackers were apprehended a short time after.)
Grande admitted he did not get to a place of forgiveness right away.
“Listen, it took me a minute, but this is what I do,” he told us. “I’m an alcoholic, I’m sober and it’s always about projecting love and trying to give to other people so you receive in the end.”
“So yes, in the beginning, it was very hard to feel this way, especially about being beaten — it was crazy, I was beaten, it was wild — but now I’m in a place where I just want them to get the help and support they need in order for them not to do that to anybody else again.”
The “Titanique: The Musical” star also revealed that immediately after the attack he was “a little hesitant to walk alone.”
“I got one of those Birdie [personal safety] alarms so that I could pull it and it makes a loud sound. It was a little scary for a while,” he continued, “but I was able to do work, do some therapy and use this amazing app called Innerworld in order to process all the trauma … and I feel wonderful again and safe in the streets of New York once again, which I’m grateful about, but yeah, it was definitely a scary moment.”
Grande, whose sister is Ariana Grande, is also at peace in his personal life, having married actor Hale Leon on May 4, 2022.
“Marriage is amazing,” he gushed to us. “We just celebrated our one-year anniversary on ‘May the 4 Be With You,’ so we’re going on our anniversary trip this month.”
Prior to his marriage, the dancer made headlines for being part of a throuple. However, the unconventional arrangement fizzled out after just four months.
He previously told Pvnew that he was “very grateful” for the threesome, as “it prepared [him] for this one, the ultimate one, where [he] got the ring.”
And Frankie still has only good things to say about his marriage.
“It’s so stable. It’s so chill. It’s so relaxed,” he enthused to us on Saturday. “I feel like my whole life has been a sprint toward marriage, and now that I’m there, I can finally breathe, focus on my career, focus on giving back, focus on my community, focus on my life in a whole new way.”
Other celebs at the gala included Jonathan Van Ness, Idina Menzel, “Mean Girls” star Jonathan Bennett, Bowen Yang and Harvey Guillén.
