Cynthia Erivo was brutally smeared – she’s finally saying what others won’t

There were so many moments on the Wicked press tour that universally made us laugh. 

From Cynthia Erivo ‘holding space’ to Ariana Grande’s supportive finger tap during interviews, the two leads playing Elphaba and Glinda gave us content for weeks. We all lapped it up, having been starved of a chaotic press run for quite some time, and fans were united in its weirdness. 

However, the tide changed quickly, and it suddenly wasn’t light-hearted fun anymore. In fact, it became very dark and was heartbreaking to watch. 

The narrative around Cynthia became so toxic that I had to tune out. Where I used to enjoy reading the comments under posts about the many Wicked interviews and premieres, I couldn’t stomach the cesspits of vitriol they became. 

So, while some may call Cynthia, 39, a diva for now choosing not to answer any more questions about Wicked in a recent interview, I don’t blame her one bit. 

When asked to sing the Gravity riff in a new interview with Variety, Cynthia simply stated: ‘No.

‘Do you mind if we do another question that isn’t about Wicked? Because I feel like I’ve spent the last two years talking about it and I think that we have another opportunity to start talking about something else. Is that OK? I love Wicked, but I’ve just talked about it ad nauseam.’

Even with her polite and professional response, her next comments show that what began as the most special moment of her career has turned into a painful memory. 

Cynthia went on to address the moment she rushed to protect Ariana as she was being ambushed by a prankster at the Singapore red-carpet premiere. Remarkably, she reacted faster than their security guards and attempted to separate Ariana from the attacker. 

What I saw was an absolute hero rushing to help her close friend, while others accused her of overreacting and used it as an opportunity to perpetuate the stereotype of the strong Black woman.

Finally, Cynthia is calling it out. 

Explaining her perspective on the incident for the first time, she said: ‘I think that we haven’t really come to terms with the insidious nature of how we view Black women. And I’m sure people will read this and think, “Oh, for goodness sake, it’s not about that.” But it is. Because that’s what was being made fun of. 

‘It was my physique; it was my shape; it was the fact that I was bald; it was about what I looked like. And because of that, there was this assumption that I was bigger than my co-star and so I had to be controlling or protecting, and that was my role. I would hazard a guess that it would not have been the same had it been the other way around.’ 

What struck me at the time was that, immediately after the incident, no one really showed concern for Cynthia. Yes, the ambusher made a beeline for Ariana, but very few considered that Cynthia’s safety was also at risk.

Cynthia rushed to protect Ariana, but where was the protection for Cynthia? 

Mind-numbingly unoriginal trolls also used the incident to fuel rumours that the stars were secretly dating. Throughout the Wicked tour, rumours had mounted that the heightened level of closeness between Cynthia and Ariana could only mean they were romantically involved, but even then, so much of that conversation was directed towards Cynthia. 

As someone with a tightly-bonded group of lifelong female friends, I understand the power of sisterhood, even if we aren’t as tactical as Ariana and Cynthia. 

But it breaks my heart that she has had to defend every one of her actions during the Wicked promo run when, ultimately, she did nothing wrong. 

Quite simply, it’s misogynoir – a nuanced form of prejudice that intersects racism towards Black women with misogyny. 

But there’s no one better to call it out than Cynthia. She has the confidence to say what others won’t, even when she knows it’s the unpopular thing to do, a fact she acknowledged in her interview (‘people will read this and think, “Oh, for goodness sake, it’s not about that.” But it is.’).

It’s refreshing to hear from someone in her position.

Cynthia is such a formidable talent and a Black British export to be proud of.

Hopefully, what she experienced throughout the Wicked era wasn’t so detrimental that it dulls her light, but her inability – or unwillingness – to continue discussing it right now might be a sign that the pain still runs deep.

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