Cynthia Erivo is reflecting on the attention her friendship with “Wicked” co-star Ariana Grande received while on the press tour for the movie musical and its sequel. The theater star and singer has rocketed to greater heights of fame following Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of “Wicked,” which stars Erivo as the wicked witch Elphaba opposite Grande’s Glinda the Good.
Many moments from the press tour for the 2024 film went viral online, and the close relationship between the stars was called into question. Like, why are they friends? There must be something wrong with them.” Many viral moments included the co-stars hugging, crying and — perhaps most infamously — “holding space” by pinching each other’s pointer fingers.
And how dare they be emotive and alive?” Erivo asked. I wish there was someone who could have been like, ‘Right, this is the proper balance of emotion that you should show. Just this amount.’” One of the most memorable moments happened when Erivo jumped into action after a man grabbed Grande on the red carpet in Singapore.
Erivo described the moment as terrifying and said her reaction was just “‘Get this man away from us now.’” The internet began positioning Erivo as Grande’s “bodyguard,” a description she feels uncomfortable with. She said that reaction was centered in misogyny and misogynoir.
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