Cynthia Erivo opened up about how she felt following the internet’s reaction after she defended Ariana Grande from a fan during the Singapore premiere of Wicked: For Good. For the unversed, in November last year, a man rushed toward Ariana Grande during the Singapore stop of the Wicked press tour. At the time, Cynthia Erivo, who was walking alongside Grande, quickly stepped in and pushed the man away.
In the aftermath, the internet was flooded with memes calling Erivo a “bodyguard.” The Tony winner responded to the trolling during her latest interview with Variety, published on May 27. Cynthia Erivo told the outlet that the online backlash made her feel discouraged about continuing the Oscars campaign for the movie.
“I just felt like my humanity had been bastardized. I felt like something I did instinctively had been made to be something that it simply was not because of the way people see women who look like me…I just didn’t want to be a part of that, really and truly. I didn’t want to put myself through it. I didn’t feel like I deserved it,” Erivo told the outlet.
Pop culture commentator Zack Peter shared his take on the actress’ comment. While replying to Variety’s post on X, Peter wrote:
“Imagine being paid MILLIONS to headline a blockbuster like Wicked, which was a massive success. And Cynthia’s Defying Gravity was also a massive success. Major defining moments in her career. Oscar-worthy! And now that it’s over, all she can do is complain.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Cynthia Erivo commented on the “insidious nature” of how people see Black women. She suggested that people might think she was drawing unwarranted conclusions, but stressed that she was trolled for her appearance.
“It was my physique; it was my shape; it was the fact that I was bald; it was about what I looked like,” she noted.
In another tweet, Zack Peter shared his reaction to Cynthia Erivo’s argument and said, “It genuinely WAS NOT ABOUT THAT.” Peter dismissed the seriousness of memes and wrote:
“It was the fact that you jumped in and blocked a crazy fan from attacking her. You ACTED like her bodyguard, and the Internet made a meme out of it. It’s not that deep.”
Cynthia Erivo recalls the attack on Ariana Grande during the Wicked premiere
Elsewhere in the interview, the Luther alum discussed her instinctive reaction to the attack on her friend. During the promotion of their film in Singapore, Cynthia Erivo was walking alongside Ariana Grande when a man jumped over a barricade and rushed toward Grande. Erivo recalled the moment and said:
“Nobody moved. Nobody moved. So I moved because my brain went, ‘Get him away! Get him out of here!’ My immediate reaction was ‘Get him away from us.’ And what people couldn’t see is that he wouldn’t let go [of Grande]. He wouldn’t let go. So I just kept pushing at him to get him off.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Cynthia Erivo fired back at people raising questions about her relationship with Ariana Grande. The Harriet star said that people couldn’t “believe that we were actually friends” because they don’t know her.
The man who rushed toward Ariana Grande was identified as Johnson Wen, who was also known on social media as ‘Pyjama Man.’ The man was charged with creating a public nuisance after the incident.
Edited by Anuj Singh Kushwaha