Oct. 02--Guard your doughnuts, Ariana Grande is in Chicago on Friday.
The "One Last Time" singer, who is scheduled to perform at the United Center at 7:30 p.m., may be known more for her off-stage antics than her tunes. She recently apologized for saying she hates America after licking doughnuts she didn't buy that were sitting on a counter at a California shop.
Though the United Center began offering new food items this fall, doughnuts are not among the options, said a spokeswoman for Levy Restaurants, the venue's hospitality partner. There are a variety of doughnut shops in Chicago, including some near the United Center.
Kristi Koszewski, social media manager for the Francesca's Restaurant Group, which includes Chicago-based Glazed and Infused, said if she saw Grande at one of the shop's locations, she would challenge her to finish the "World's Hottest F@% Doughnut."
The doughnut is filled with raspberry jam scorpion chili, covered in a glaze of cinnamon, habanero, scorpion chili, Carolina Reaper and Red Savina pepper and topped with a chocolate-dipped habanero. If the entire doughnut is eaten, it's free, Koszewski said.
Grande wasn't charged in the incident, and it's unclear if the pastry licking had any effect on her ticket prices. The average resale price for her United Center show was $88 as of Thursday, said Chris Leyden, a content analyst for search engine SeatGeek.
Leyden said the median list price for the show decreased by about $5 in the weeks after the Fourth of July doughnut incident but the price bounced back by the end of July.
"It's tough to pinpoint this on the donut licking incident, just because the market makes slight adjustments like this all the time," Leyden said in an email to the Tribune.
