Ariana Grande’s ‘Victorious’ Zoom Reunion Is What Nostalgic Dreams Are Made of

Stars: they’re just like us.

No matter how famous, they are also limited by the rules of social distancing — and have been making use of teleconferencing software like Zoom to host “parties.”

Just consider the case of Ariana Grande, Victoria Justice and the rest of the cast of 2010 hit Nickelodeon show Victorious, created by Dan Schneider. According to Schneider, the group had intended to have a reunion of sorts to celebrate the show’s 10-year anniversary. But the novel coronavirus — intervened. So the crew turned to Zoom, of course, where nine of them were able to tune in on their selfie cameras.

And while the result didn’t produce any memorable cast-reunion photos to give longstanding fans of the show, it did give us all some relatable snapshots into just another pixelated Zoom party, only this one was stacked with celebrities. (Attendees beyond Grande, Justice and Schneider included Elizabeth Gillies, Leon Thomas III, Avan Jogia, Daniella Monet, Eric Lange and Matt Bennett.) And yes, they also love to use Zoom’s virtual background feature, concealing their home environment in favor of, say, the Northern lights and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Grande, Justice and the rest were mostly teens when the show first debuted, and it helped launch many of their careers. They memorialized the moment on their social media accounts, too, sharing their joy in getting a chance to recall their time together. “My heart is yelling. Love you so much. The best night,” Grande commented on Justice’s post about the reunion. “Thank you so much to all the fans who continue to love and support our show. Makes me real happy to see that it’s still enjoyed by so many of you,” Justice also wrote on a throwback cast photo.

Here’s hoping they’ll get their chance to reunite in person at some future date. In the meantime, it’s nice to see celebrities continuing to spread the message of staying at home — and to recognize that they, too, have to deal with the same technological advances (and limitations) of the rest of us in this complicated era of isolation.

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