Ariana Grande Reunites Brandy And Monica, Recruits Penn Badgley For ‘The Boy Is Mine’ Music Video

The 30-year-old cast Gossip Girl alum Penn Badgley as the love interest in the clip, where he stars as the fictional Mayor Max Starling — who promises to clean up a city infested with rats.

The Christian Breslauer-directed video beings with Grande preparing a love potion in her home, as the television in the background cuts to news anchors played by Brandy and Monica announcing the Mayor’s press conference.

The 90’s singers, of course, also had a famous 1998 track called “The Boy Is Mine,” which Grande said in an interview with Zane Lowe inspired her single. “I love that song,” Grande told Lowe in an Apple Music interview earlier this year, “I’ve always wanted to reimagine that in some kind of way.”

Starling then announces he” be releasing stray cats into the city to help with the rat problem, which Grande thinks is a “brilliant” idea before turning into her own version of Catwoman.

She tracks down Starling’s house and breaks into it as he is getting read for bed, which he then finds her atop. Though he’s initially frightened to find her there and attempts to leave, Grande cracks her whip and attempts to slip him the love potion.

But before he takes the drink, however, Starling takes off her mask to reveal her face — then throws the potion away because he clearly doesn’t need a love potion to fall in love with Grande. The video ends with the new couple enjoying their time together surrounded by cats.

Halle Berry, who played Catwoman in the film of the same name, was clearly a fan — sharing a clip of the video to X with the caption, “Get it, Ari! Living.”

The video comes after Grande appeared on the Thursday, June 6, episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where she announced Badgley would be starring in the music video.

“I’ve been a fan of him my entire life so it was just so amazing to work with him, I am such a fan super honored to have him,” Grande told Fallon.

Grande dropped Eternal Sunshine in the midst of promoting her upcoming role as Glinda the Good Witch in the first part of the long-awaited Wicked movie musical, opposite Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba.

The first installment of the film is scheduled for November 27, with the sequel to follow on November 26, 2025.