Cynthia Erivo has challenged criticism of her friendship with Ariana Grande, saying their emotional bond attracted unfair scrutiny.
Speaking to The Guardian, Cynthia questioned why their closeness during the Wicked press tours had prompted such suspicion.
“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.”
She also revisited the Singapore incident when she stepped in after a man approached Ariana on the red carpet.
Cynthia Erivo rejects Ariana Grande bodyguard label
The incident happened on November 13, 2025, when a man ran towards Ariana and put his arm around her.
Cynthia moved to shield her co-star. Recalling the moment, she said they had been exposed on the carpet and nobody else was moving.
However, she rejected suggestions that her actions made her Ariana’s bodyguard.
For Cynthia, intervening was something she would have done for any friend. She said she would hope a friend would do the same for her.
Her objection was to people treating that protective response as a role, rather than an act of friendship.
Cynthia Erivo questions reaction to emotional Wicked interviews
The pair’s friendship attracted attention while they promoted Wicked and Wicked: For Good.
Cynthia said people appeared to question whether the emotion they showed together in interviews was genuine.
She said there were “many people who had become psychologists from their couches”.
She questioned why two women being friends, crying or laughing together had become grounds for criticism.
Yet holding back would not necessarily have spared them scrutiny, she argued. Cynthia felt a lack of emotion would simply have given people something different to criticise.
She also wished someone could have explained what an acceptable balance of emotion was supposed to look like.
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