Cynthia Erivo is once again defending her relationship with Ariana Grande, insisting that the public’s fascination with their unusually emotional Wicked promotional appearances stemmed from an apparent inability to accept that two women could simply be friends.
However, the actress’s latest explanation overlooks a rather obvious possibility: audiences weren’t necessarily bothered by their friendship. They were amused by the increasingly theatrical ways the two women chose to demonstrate it.
In a new interview with The Guardian, Erivo revisited the widespread online mockery that accompanied the promotional campaigns for 2024’s Wicked and its 2025 sequel, Wicked: For Good.
The actresses’ frequent crying, hand-holding, emotional declarations, and unusually intimate interview appearances became recurring internet jokes. Yet Erivo appears to believe the public reaction was rooted in something considerably more troubling than simple amusement.
Cynthia Erivo Believes People Were Annoyed by Their Friendship
Discussing the attention surrounding her relationship with Grande, Erivo criticized the amateur analysts who scrutinized their interactions.
“It was interesting that there were many people who had become psychologists from their couches,” she said. “There was this weird sort of, what’s the word I’m looking for … annoyance … at the fact that two women could actually be friends. Like, why are they friends? Why are they connected? There must be something wrong with them.”
Certainly, the public speculated about the nature of their relationship. Some questioned whether their unusually intense displays of affection were genuine, while others wondered whether the behavior was exaggerated for promotional purposes.
But Erivo’s explanation conflates those questions with the much broader public reaction to the actresses’ behavior.
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande pose for photos, Youtube, SLOAN
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The most recognizable Wicked memes weren’t about whether two women could maintain a friendship. They were about how two professional entertainers managed to turn routine promotional interviews into what often resembled emotional therapy sessions.
The most famous example came during a November 2024 interview with journalist Tracy E. Gilchrist, who informed Erivo that people were “holding space” for the lyrics of “Defying Gravity.”
Erivo appeared profoundly moved, while Grande reached over and delicately grasped one of her fingers.
The resulting exchange became an internet sensation, inspiring countless memes and parodies.
The moment became funny precisely because it was so unusual. That hardly establishes widespread public hostility toward female friendship.
Erivo Suggests Critics Wanted Them to Suppress Their Emotions
Erivo also criticized the public’s response to the actresses’ repeated emotional displays, suggesting that audiences would have complained regardless of how they behaved.
“It’s a double-edged sword,” she added. “Because if we were dead behind the eyes and showing no emotion, there would have been something else to say about it. I wish there was someone who could have been like, ‘Right, this is the proper balance of emotion that you should show. Don’t show this. Don’t show that. Just this amount.’”
The argument presents an unusual choice.
Either Erivo and Grande are permitted to express themselves without criticism, or audiences apparently expect them to behave like emotionless robots.
But there’s considerable territory between those extremes.
Cynthia Erivo in an interview – YouTube, CBS Sunday Morning
Nobody needs an official rulebook governing acceptable emotional expression to recognize when a celebrity interview becomes unintentionally comedic.
Actors have spent decades promoting films while discussing their friendships, emotional experiences, and personal connections with co-stars. Those conversations don’t ordinarily generate months of memes.
The Wicked promotional campaign was different because Erivo and Grande repeatedly displayed a level of emotional intensity that many viewers considered disproportionate to the circumstances.
That doesn’t mean their feelings were necessarily insincere. It just means audiences found the public presentation of those feelings amusing.
And there’s a fundamental distinction between criticizing someone for having emotions and laughing at the theatrical manner in which those emotions are expressed.
Erivo Also Rejects the Ariana Grande Bodyguard Comparisons
The actress also revisited a more serious incident from the November 2025 Singapore premiere of Wicked: For Good.
During the event, Johnson Wen rushed toward Grande and grabbed her on the red carpet. Erivo immediately intervened, helping separate the intruder from her co-star.
The incident was a genuine security concern, and Erivo’s instinctive response was understandable.
However, the actress objected to subsequent online commentary portraying her as Grande’s personal bodyguard.
Johnson Wen rushing Ariana Grande at the Wicked Singapore premiere – TikTok, Belle Phai
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“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.”
Erivo suggested that the comparisons reflected assumptions about her physical appearance, describing the commentary as misogyny and misogynoir.
But the Wicked memes existed long before the Singapore incident. The finger-holding jokes, tearful interviews, and exaggerated displays of affection had already made Erivo and Grande internet sensations. The bodyguard controversy cannot explain why audiences were laughing at their promotional appearances months earlier.
Some Oscar Voters Reportedly Found the Press Tour Off-Putting
Interestingly, the criticism of Erivo and Grande’s promotional behavior was not confined to social media.
Following the complete exclusion of Wicked: For Good from the 2026 Academy Award nominations, anonymous Oscar voters reportedly expressed frustration with the actresses’ promotional appearances.
According to a January report citing interviews with Academy voters, one voter criticized the film’s quality while also expressing discomfort with the stars’ public behavior.
The voter reportedly said the actresses’ promotional appearances had been off-putting and suggested their efforts to appear authentic had produced the opposite effect.
Elphaba and Glinda in Wicked – Peacock
Another anonymous voter reportedly complained that the pair dominated red-carpet events to an uncomfortable degree.
Those remarks are notable because they suggest that at least some Hollywood insiders shared the public’s frustration with the promotional spectacle.
However, the anonymous comments do not establish that the actresses were denied nominations because of their behavior.
The Academy’s voting process involves thousands of members, and the film’s reception, competition, and individual performances could all have influenced the outcome.
Nevertheless, the reported reactions provide an interesting counterpoint to Erivo’s suggestion that the controversy was primarily about audiences struggling to accept female friendship.
Some industry observers apparently found the behavior itself exhausting.
The Difference Between Friendship and Public Performance
Ultimately, Cynthia Erivo is entitled to defend her relationship with Ariana Grande. There’s no reason to assume the actresses’ friendship is anything other than genuine, and strangers speculating excessively about their private relationship accomplishes very little.
But the public reaction to the Wicked promotional campaigns was not exclusively about the authenticity of that friendship. It was also about two celebrities repeatedly engaging in unusually emotional behavior during highly publicized marketing appearances.
Their finger-holding became a meme. So did the crying and elaborate declarations of affection. Those moments were funny to many people regardless of whether the actresses genuinely cared about one another.
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande on the Wicked Press Tour – YouTube, GLAAD
Erivo seems determined to interpret the mockery as evidence that audiences were uncomfortable with two women being close friends.
Yet the simpler explanation may be the more accurate one.
People weren’t necessarily laughing at the friendship. They were laughing at the spectacle surrounding it.
And until Erivo acknowledges that distinction, her continued attempts to explain the controversy may simply provide audiences with another reason to revisit the jokes.
How do you feel about Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande on the Wicked Press tour? Sound off and let us know!
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