Why Ariana Grande's Preference for the Left Side of Her Face Isn't That Weird
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On a recent trip to Australia, it was reported that Ariana Grande had a list of demands. Media professionals covering the 21-year-old singer’s promotional event, according to news.com.au, were told by her management not to ask questions about her relationships, dating, and ex-boyfriends; comparisons to Mariah Carey; the “Sam & Cat” and Jennette McCurdy drama; collaboration with Justin Bieber; and the recent death of her grandfather. In addition to the off-limits talking points, photographers were told to not use natural light and only shoot from the left side of her face. While these kinds of demands might be considered diva behavior, it’s not uncommon for people — and not just celebrities — to have a better side.
Like the pint-sized “Problem” singer, Seth Meyers, 40, the host of “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” prefers to be photographed from the left, according to a recent New York Times piece. His publicist was sent to scope out a seat for the former anchor of "Weekend Update" on “Saturday Night Live” the day before he was set to have a sit-down with Brian Williams. “I would have given up the seat in a tie,” Meyers said jokingly. “My bad side looks better than Brian’s bad side. And I need to give him every advantage.” Despite how Meyers played off the incident to the Times, he still sits with his left cheek facing towards the camera each night.
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Mariah Carey has admitted that at one time she preferred a particular angle of her profile. "I don't feel like, 'Oh, I have to be on this side, or I have to be on this side' — I really had specific things that someone told me when I was 19 starting in the business and I listened to them ... I don't care anymore," she confessed to the Associated Press in 2009 when the movie “Precious” was released.
And Barbara Walters, the woman with the most experience being caught on film of those in the group, said in 1992 that she always sits camera right. "After all this time, I know that's my better side."
Photographer Pamela Hanson, who is famous for shooting celebrities — and the most symmetrical face of all time, Christy Turlington — defends their conduct. "Faces are not symmetrical, and anyone who has been photographed a lot usually knows how and from where they look best!"
As weird as these requests seem, a study from 2012 found that humans prefer looking at the left side of a face, finding it more pleasant. “Our results suggest that posers’ left cheeks tend to exhibit a greater intensity of emotion, which observers find more aesthetically pleasing,” said the researchers in a statement . Hey, at least Grande, Meyers, Carey, and Walters have a basis in science for an apparently odd predilection!
