Cynthia Erivo Pushes Back on Criticism of Her Friendship With Ariana Grande

Cynthia Erivo is speaking out about the scrutiny that followed her friendship with "Wicked" co-star Ariana Grande during the press tour for the movie musical and its sequel.

Erivo plays Elphaba, the wicked witch, opposite Grande's Glinda the Good in Jon M. Chu's adaptation. The singer and theater star has reached new heights of fame since the film, and many moments from the 2024 press tour went viral online. The close bond between the two stars also drew questions from the public.

In an interview with The Guardian about her upcoming courtroom drama "Prima Facie," Erivo said many people had turned into "psychologists from their couches." She described a strange kind of annoyance "at the fact that two women could actually be friends." In her words, the reaction seemed to be: "Why are they friends? Why are they connected? There must be something wrong with them."

Viral clips showed the co-stars hugging, crying and, most famously, "holding space" by pinching each other's pointer fingers. Erivo questioned the backlash directly. "Why are they showing emotion? How dare they cry? And how dare they laugh? And how dare they be emotive and alive?" she asked.

She called the situation "a double-edged sword." According to Erivo, if the pair had been "dead behind the eyes and showing no emotion," critics would have found something else to say. She joked that she wished someone could tell them the proper balance of emotion to show, "Just this amount."

One of the most talked-about moments came on the red carpet in Singapore, when a man grabbed Grande and Erivo stepped in. Erivo described the incident as terrifying and said her reaction was simply: "Get this man away from us now."

Afterward, the internet began casting Erivo as Grande's "bodyguard," a label she is uncomfortable with. She said the response was centered in misogyny and misogynoir.

"I was like: 'Oh, you think because I look like this that you could talk to me this way about something that was a human thing that I would have done for any friend, and hopefully a friend would have done for me,'" she said. "But I must be a bodyguard."