Nyle DiMarco makes deaf-friendly version of Ariana Grande video

Deaf people enjoy music too! That’s the message behind model Nyle DiMarco’s re-make of Ariana Grande’s latest music video.

After causing a stir on Twitter last November about the lack of captions on Grande’s ‘Thank U, Next,” video, the Deaf model and activist decided to make his own, deaf-friendly version of her new song, “7 Rings.”

Could you ask @Vevo to add captions for 466 million people with hearing loss

(Deaf here and we do enjoy your music) 🤟🏽https://t.co/e0YSC0lBJg

— Nyle DiMarco (@NyleDiMarco) November 30, 2018

DiMarco, winner of America’s Next Top Model and Dancing with the Stars spoke out last year about the lack of captions in Grande’s “Thank U, Next” video, criticizing the fact that it wasn’t accessible to D/deaf audiences.

To DiMarco’s surprise, Grande took his request to heart, releasing her “7 Rings” music video with closed captions on Jan. 18. The song is now #1 on the Billboard Top 100. 

.@ArianaGrande dropped WITH CAPTIONS!

pic.twitter.com/Mhj3LQoLhV

— Nyle DiMarco (@NyleDiMarco) January 18, 2019

Taking #DeafTalent to a whole new level

While Grande’s new video included captions, DiMarco and a team of back-up dancers recreated Grande’s “7 Rings” video with ASL to make it even more accessible. In the remake, the crew dons dazzling outfits, preforms on a stunning set and signs slick Sign Language, getting a seal of approval from Grande herself. 

beyond 🖤 love this so much https://t.co/mO0LSPpal5

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) January 28, 2019

Praise from the D/deaf community

With a push for more inclusion of #DeafTalent in the media, both videos were praised by the D/deaf community, as they could enjoy the entertainment as their hearing peers could.

However, there is still a lot of work to do in making entertainment more accessible and breaking down stigmas around hearing loss, which DiMarco pointed out after the release of his video. 

 

 

how are we doing this in 2019 🤯 pic.twitter.com/EF9L2mTLgA

— Nyle DiMarco (@NyleDiMarco) January 29, 2019

“We have so much work to do ahead of us,” DiMarco says on Twitter.

Even if it’s one music video at a time, we hope this encourages other musicians  to make their videos accessible to all. 

• Author Details

Author Details

Ellie Parfitt

Ellie was born profoundly deaf, uses verbal communication, lipreads and wears Phonak Sky Q hearing aids. She is currently learning British Sign Language. Ellie hasn’t let her disability stand in the way and embraces every new challenge. Her deafness didn’t prevent her from achieving major accomplishments in her life, such as excelling in her education, previously working as a Marketing Executive and now as an Events Coordinator for a deaf organization, as well as blogging for Hearing Like Me. She is passionate about deaf awareness, campaigning for equality and helping others through her personal blog as Deafie Blogger.