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Mac Miller's Friend Says Ariana Grande Was 'Unbelievably Involved' In His Sobriety

Miller died last week of a suspected overdose.
Rapper Mac Miller and singer Ariana Grande backstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards.
Jeff Kravitz / Getty Images
Rapper Mac Miller and singer Ariana Grande backstage during the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards.

Ariana Grande was “deeply helpful” and “effective” in getting Mac Miller sober during their relationship, according to one of the late rapper’s closest friends.

The 26-year-old Miller was found dead in his San Fernando Valley home in California on Sept. 7 after an apparent overdose. His substance abuse, which he mentioned frequently in his music, was an issue for Grande, who previously described their two-year relationship as “toxic” and “scary.”

Some people continue to blame the pop star for his death, but Shane Powers, a longtime friend of Miller’s, praised her for being “unbelievably involved” in every step of the rapper’s sobriety journey.

“They were very much in love, and I have to say she was incredible when he was first sobering up,” he said on his podcast, “The Shane Show.” “She was a fucking G to him. There could not have been anybody more supportive of him being sober than Ariana. I saw that. I was around it.”

Miller and Grande on their way to an Oscar party in Los Angeles on March 4.
GC Images / Getty Images
Miller and Grande on their way to an Oscar party in Los Angeles on March 4.

Powers went on to say that Grande called him from time to time when concerned about Miller’s health to ask, “How do I help? What do I do?”

“This little girl was unbelievably involved and helpful to him being healthy,” Powers added.

The pop star and the rapper split in May after two years of dating (and many more of being friends). Days after their breakup, Miller was involved in a car collision and later arrested on DUI and hit-and-run charges, which were dismissed after his death.

“Whether he’s an addict or not, the way that Mac partied was not healthy,” Powers continued on his show. “There was no one in his life more ready to go to the wall for him when it came to him being sober. She was an unbelievably stabilizing force in his life, and she was deeply helpful and effective in keeping Mac sober and helping him get sober. She was all about him being healthy. Period.”

Grande is now engaged to “Saturday Night Live” star Pete Davidson. They started dating weeks after her relationship to Miller ended.

Miller and Grande onstage during the One Love Manchester benefit concert, June 4, 2017.
Kevin Mazur / One Love Manchester / Getty Images
Miller and Grande onstage during the One Love Manchester benefit concert, June 4, 2017.

In the wake of Miller’s death, Grande disabled the comments on her recent Instagram posts after she received countless responses directing blame for the tragedy her way.

On Sept. 8 she shared a sweet black-and-white photo of Miller without any accompanying text.

Four days after Miller’s death, thousands of fans gathered in his hometown of Pittsburgh to remember the rapper at Frick Park’s Blue Slide playground, which inspired the name of his first album.

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