Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber Shut Down Accusations that They Bought their Song’s Chart Slot

In a message on Instagram on Monday night, Grande expressed her gratitude to fans for the song's success. "Stuck with U," a collaboration with Justin Bieber, was released earlier this month to benefit the First Responders Children's Foundation, and became Grande's third track to hit number one on the chart.

Amid her celebration, Grande wrote, "I would like to address a few things which i don’t usually do (i don’t give my energy to drama or strange accusations normally but this has gone a little too far)...my fans bought the song. JUSTIN’S fans bought the song. OUR fans bought this song (never more than four copies each, AS THE RULES STATE)."

On Monday afternoon, Tekashi 6ix9ine had peddled a theory that "you can buy No. 1s on Billboard," and claimed that "Last Thursday, Ariana with ‘Stuck with U’ submitted 60,000 units last second.

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6ix9ine deserves #1 🙌🔥🔥‼

A post shared by Tekashi 69 (@tekashi__6ix9ine__) on May 15, 2020 at 1:46pm PDT

With the investigation we found this: they purchased half of those things with six credit cards." His song, "GOOBA," entered the chart at number three.

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thank u to everybody who supported this song, this cause and made this happen. we love uuuuu so much. 🤍 there’s so much to celebrate today. 🤍 however, i would like to say a few things. anyone who knows me or has followed me for a while knows that numbers aren’t the driving force in anything i do. i’m grateful to sing. grateful to have people who want to listen. grateful to even be here at all. i didn’t have a number one for the first five years of my career and it didn’t upset me at all because from the bottom of my heart, music is everything to me. my fans are everything to me. i promise i couldn’t ask for another fucking thing. so with this celebration today, i would like to address a few things which i don’t usually do (i don’t give my energy to drama or strange accusations normally but this has gone a little too far)...my fans bought the song. JUSTIN’S fans bought the song. OUR fans bought this song (never more than four copies each, AS THE RULES STATE). they are ride or die motherfuckers and i thank god every day that i have them in my life. not just when they fight for us to win (even when i ask them not to as i did this week) but because they’re some of the greatest people i know. sales count for more than streams. u can not discredit this as hard as u try. to anybody that is displeased with their placement on the chart this week or who is spending their time racking their brain thinking of as many ways as they can to discredit hardworking women (and only the women for some reason.....), i ask u to take a moment to humble yourself. be grateful you’re even here. that people want to listen to u at all. it’s a blessed position to be in. i’ve had a lot of “almost number ones” in my career and i never said a goddamn thing because I FEEL GRATEFUL TO EVEN BE HERE. TO WANT TO BE HEARD AT ALL .... and you should feel that way too. congratulations to all my talented ass peers in the top ten this week. even number 3. 🥰 and thank u to @billboard for this honor. and thank u to everybody who helped us raise a lot of money for a very important cause this week. love u all a lot.

A post shared by Ariana Grande (@arianagrande) on May 18, 2020 at 12:40pm PDT

"To anybody that is displeased with their placement on the chart this week or who is spending their time racking their brain thinking of as many ways as they can to discredit hardworking women (and only the women for some reason.....), i ask u to take a moment to humble yourself," Grande wrote in her lengthy statement. "Be grateful you’re even here. That people want to listen to u at all. it’s a blessed position to be in."

Without naming the rapper, she added, "Congratulations to all my talented ass peers in the top ten this week. Even number 3."

Bieber also weighed in on the accusations, disputing Tekashi 6ix9ine's claims in an Instagram story post, writing, "60,000 units came at the end because we don’t disclose our numbers until the end of the week."

Bieber also pointed out that Hernandez seemed to target Grande in his accusations, leaving Bieber, who shares credit for the song, out of the conversation.

"This is my song with Ariana Grande and I'm honored to work with her ..." Bieber concluded. "If you gonna say her name make sure you say mine because it's our song."

"Stuck with U" served as a fundraiser, with "at least $0.80 from each sale of the track" being donated to First Responders Children's Foundation, according to iTunes.