Ariana Grande Donut-Licking Incident Under Police Investigation

Pop star Ariana Grande’s donut-licking, “I hate America” incident is under investigation by local police.

The Lake Elsinore Police Department said Wednesday it is investigating a video that appears to show Grande and a male friend “maliciously licking” donuts that had been set out on a countertop inside the local Wolfee Donuts shop on July 4.

Store cameras also captured Grande saying she “hates America” and “hates Americans.”

Riverside County Department of Environmental Health will work with police on the investigation.

Wolfee Donuts owner Joe Marin told Us magazine that Grande had been “rude” to store employees during her visit, and described what he saw captured by his store’s ten security cameras.

She was looking around, and that’s when I saw she was licking two of the donuts. Then she went to another tray that was on top and there was a tray of powdered donuts. So I zoomed [the camera into] her mouth, and the powdered ones, she did not lick them, she spit on those. She spit on one of them, and she dared that guy she was seeing and he spit on it, too. I saw they were getting a kick out of it and the two friends she brought, they saw what he did, too.

Grande apologized Wednesday for the comments she made inside the store but did not specifically address the donut-licking allegations.

“I am EXTREMELY proud to be an American and I’ve always made it clear that I love my country,” the singer said in a statement. “What I said in a private moment with my friend, who was buying the donuts, was taken out of context and I am sorry for not using more discretion with my choice of words.”

“As an advocate for healthy eating, food is very important to me and I sometimes get upset by how freely we as Americans eat and consume things without giving any thought to the consequences that it has on our health and society as a whole.”

Grande had been scheduled to perform at the MLB All-Star Game concert in Cincinatti this weekend, but has since been replaced by Demi Lovato. Grande said in her statement that she dropped out while she recovers from emergency oral surgery.