Ariana Grande's viral look-alike Paige Niemann says she felt "misled" by the direct message the pop star sent her years ago during her rise to online fame.
Paige's new docuseries "Turning the Paige" debuted this week on Prime Video.
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It features the empowering message Ariana sent a teenage Paige, who was gaining traction for her uncanny impersonation and look-alike videos.
The message, verified by TMZ as coming from the Grammy winner, said Paige was beautiful "without trying to make her face look more similar to someone else's."
It ended with, "Always do what makes you happy of course but if I didn't say that to you, I'd regret it."
Paige tells TMZ she had mixed feelings about the interaction.
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She says she shared it in her doc to show Ariana's kindness, but felt "led on" due to social media narratives forming at the same time.
Critics tore Paige apart for allegedly building her brand off Ariana, while rumors swirled that Ariana was "liking" shady messages about Paige.
In a since-deleted tweet, Ariana reportedly called the ordeal "bizarre."
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Paige maintains she never felt she was doing anything wrong, since Ariana never said the look-alike videos made her uncomfortable.
Instead, Ariana told her to do what makes her happy.
Now, Paige is documenting her journey to "Break Free" from the Ariana lookalike narrative. She tells TMZ she plans to pursue acting and modeling.
Paige says she's much more than "the girl who looks like someone" and is ready to share that with the world.
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Her documentary is the first step.
