Hollywood is a small town. People forget that sometimes. You think these massive stars live on different planets, but really, they’re all hanging out in the same three ZIP codes in Los Angeles. Back in 2014, those orbits collided in a way that stayed messy for years. We’re talking about the infamous "Smariana Schmande" moment. If you were on the internet during the peak Glee era, you probably remember the headlines.
But looking back at Naya Rivera and Ariana Grande now is... different. It feels heavier. Naya isn't here anymore, and Ariana has become one of the biggest names in the world. Their connection wasn't a friendship. It was a collision. It was about a guy, a Rolex, and a very awkward afternoon in a living room.
The day everything broke
Naya Rivera was never one to sugarcoat things. Honestly, that’s why her fans loved her. In her 2016 memoir, Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up, she laid out exactly how her engagement to rapper Big Sean ended. It wasn't a quiet "we grew apart" situation. It was a "finding another girl at your house" situation.
According to Naya, she and Sean had been fighting for five days straight. He was traveling, and when he finally got back to LA, he told her he didn't want to see her.
Big mistake.
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Naya had a key. She let herself in. She walked downstairs, and there she was. Naya wrote that she found a "little girl" sitting cross-legged on the couch, listening to music. She didn't use the name in the book, but she said it rhymed with "Smariana Schmande."
You don't need a detective to figure that one out.
The Big Sean factor
To understand the tension between Naya Rivera and Ariana Grande, you have to look at the timeline. Big Sean and Naya were the "It" couple of 2013. They got engaged in October after only six months of dating. It was fast. Maybe too fast.
Then April 2014 hit.
Suddenly, Sean’s publicist put out a statement saying the wedding was off. The crazy part? Naya claimed she found out at the same time as everyone else—through the internet. Imagine scrolling through Twitter and seeing your own breakup as a trending topic before your fiancé even calls you.
Sean’s team tried to paint a different picture. They claimed Naya was "too controlling" and had "fits of anger." There was even that weird drama where Naya tweeted—and then deleted—an accusation that Sean stole Rolexes from her house.
Moving on or moving in?
Ariana Grande and Big Sean had worked together before. They had the hit "Right There" in 2013. By the time Naya found Ariana on that couch, the professional lines were clearly blurring.
A few months after the engagement was officially dead, Ariana and Sean were spotted holding hands at the MTV Video Music Awards. By October 2014, they were official. For Naya, it was a slap in the face. She ended up marrying Ryan Dorsey in July 2014—on the exact date she had originally set for her wedding to Sean.
Talk about a power move. Or a coping mechanism. Probably a bit of both.
What people get wrong about the "feud"
People love a catfight narrative. It sells magazines. But was it really a feud?
Ariana never really engaged with it. She stayed quiet. She didn't respond to the "Smariana" shade in the memoir. She didn't clap back on Twitter. In the world of PR, silence is often the sharpest weapon.
Naya’s frustration wasn't just about Ariana. It was about the lack of respect from the man she was supposed to marry. In her eyes, Ariana was the "other woman," but Big Sean was the one who held the keys.
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Years later, the "homewrecker" label started following Ariana again during the Ethan Slater situation. People started digging up Naya’s book as "evidence" of a pattern. Whether that’s fair or not is up for debate. Pop culture has a long memory, and those pages in Sorry Not Sorry became a permanent part of the record.
The tragedy that changed the lens
When Naya Rivera passed away in July 2020 at Lake Piru, the tone of the conversation shifted. The petty drama of 2014 didn't seem so important anymore.
Ariana didn't post a long, public tribute like some of the Glee cast did. But she didn't have to. The relationship wasn't there. There were reports that she was "deeply saddened," but any public statement would have likely been picked apart by people looking for drama.
What's left is a story of two very different women who were momentarily linked by a messy chapter in their 20s.
What we can take away from this
- Trust your gut. Naya knew something was off when communication stopped. If you’re getting "don't come over" vibes, there’s usually a reason.
- The internet is a brutal place to learn news. If you’re going through a breakup, stay off social media. Let the dust settle before you start reading what the "sources" have to say.
- Narratives stick. Once a story is in a book or a viral tweet, it becomes part of your public identity.
If you want to understand the full context of Naya's side, you really should read her memoir. It covers way more than just the Big Sean drama—it's a look at her time on Glee, her struggles as a child actor, and her journey into motherhood. It gives the "couch story" the perspective it needs.
For more on how celebrity timelines overlap, you can check out the archives on People or E! Online, which tracked the 2014 breakup in real-time. Looking back at the original reports shows just how much has changed in the way we talk about these stars today.