Ariana Grande has issued a lengthy statement following the Manchester terror attack.
The 23-year-old popstar posted a long message to her social media channels on Friday night after a suicide bomber targeted her concert at the Manchester Arena on Monday, killing 22 people and injuring more than 100 others.
"My heart, prayers and deepest condolences are with the victims of the Manchester Attack and their loved ones," she said. "There is nothing I or anyone can do to take away the pain you are feeling or make this better.
"However, I extend my hand and heart and everything I possibly can give to you and yours, should you want or need my help in any way."
Ariana continued: "The only thing we can do now is choose how we let this affect us and how we live our lives from here on out.
"I have been thinking of my fans, and of you all, non stop over the past week. The way you have handled all of this has been more inspiring and made me more proud of you than you’ll ever know.
"The compassion, kindness, love, strength and oneness that you’ve shown one another this past week is the exact opposite of the heinous intentions it must take to pull off something as evil as what happened on Monday.
“YOU are the opposite."
Ariana said: "I am sorry for the pain and fear that you must be feeling and for the trauma that you, too, must be experiencing.
"We will never be able to understand why events like this take place because it is not in our nature, which is why we shouldn’t recoil.
“We will not quit or operate in fear.
“We won’t let this divide us.
“We won’t let hate win.
"I don’t want to go the rest of the year without being able to see and hold and uplift my fans, the same way they continue to uplift me."
Ariana added: "Our response to this violence must be to come closer together, to help each other, to love more, to sing louder and to live more kindly and generously than we did before.
"I’ll be returning to the incredibly brave city of Manchester to spend time with my fans and to have a benefit concert in honour of and to raise money for the victims and their families. I want to thank my fellow musicians and friends for reaching out to be part of our expression of love for Manchester. I will have details to share with you as soon as everything is confirmed.
"From the day we started putting the Dangerous Woman Tour together, I said that this show, more than anything else, was intended to be a safe space for my fans. A place for them to escape, to celebrate, to heal, to feel safe and to be themselves. To meet their friends they’ve made online. To express themselves.
"This will not change that."
Ariana had just come off stage at the Manchester Arena on Monday evening when a bomb exploded in the foyer of the venue, killing 22 people and injuring more than 100.
The youngest victim was just eight years old, school girl Saffie Roussos.
Ariana tweeted in the aftermath: "Broken. From the bottom of my heart. I am so so sorry. I don't have words."
She returned home to Boca Raton, Florida on Tuesday.
Ariana has now postponed all tour dates on her Dangerous Woman Tour until June 7, with a rep saying: "We ask at this time that we all continue to support the city of Manchester and all those families affected by this cowardice and senseless act of violence.
"Our way of life has once again been threatened but we will overcome this together."
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