Jeffrey Dahmer’s Crimes Revisited: The Ariana Grande Comment That Sparked Outrage From Victim’s Family

Jeffrey Dahmer is counted among the most notorious serial killers in American history. The gruesome nature in which he exploited and murdered his victims continues to haunt people more than three decades after his death.

Over the years, Dahmer’s story has been adapted into various films and shows. Amid the media’s obsession with the serial killer, pop star Ariana Grande also sparked controversy with a statement about him in 2024. But first, let’s take a look at Dahmer’s crimes.

Dahmer’s terror lasted for 13 years between 1978 and 1991. He mostly targeted gay men of color by luring them to his home. While the victims thought they were going for a date, Dahmer brutally killed them, dismembered their bodies, ate their organs, and at times abused their corpses.

The serial killer murdered 17 men and boys, with his youngest victim being just 14 years old. In June 1978, he targeted his first victim, Steven Hicks, an 18-year-old high school graduate from Ohio. Dahmer dissected his body and later dissolved his flesh in acid.

Nine years later, in 1987, he went after his second victim, 24-year-old Steven Tuomi. Dahmer invited him to a hotel room in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after meeting him at a bar. He then drugged and killed him. In the next four years, the killer claimed 15 more lives. One of them was Tony Hughes, a 31-year-old aspiring model.

Hughes was deaf and non-verbal, communicating through sign language and written notes. He met Dahmer at a gay bar in Milwaukee on May 24, 1991. Following his modus operandi, Dahmer lured him to his apartment and drugged his drink. As Hughes became unconscious, Dahmer strangled him. While the victim died, the perpetrator retained his skull.

Dahmer’s horrific crimes were exposed when one of his intended victims, Tracy Edwards, managed to escape his apartment in July 1991. Edwards alerted the police, who searched Dahmer’s apartment and found three human heads and various organs in the freezer. Dahmer was finally arrested, marking an end to his killing spree.

He was convicted of 15 counts of first-degree intentional homicide in Wisconsin and one count of aggravated murder for Hicks in Ohio. He received 16 consecutive life sentences and was sent to the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage. Dahmer remained there until November 28, 1994, when he was beaten to death by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver.

Regarding Ariana Grande’s connection to the story, the singer was asked on a podcast in 2024 who her dream dinner guest would be. Grande then replied, “Jeffrey Dahmer’s pretty fascinating. I think I would have loved to meet him.”

While the host, Penn Badgley, took the remark in jest, the statement hurt Tony Hughes’ family. In a conversation with TMZ, the victim’s mother, Shirley Hughes, slammed Grande and called her ‘sick in her mind.’ She added, “It’s not fancy or funny to say you would have wanted to do dinner with him. It’s also not something you should say to young people, which she says she did.”

Hughes’ sister, Barbara, also stated that Grande’s comments seemed to glamorize Dahmer. She even demanded an apology from the singer. However, Grande never responded to the family’s comments.