Cynthia Erivo called out the public who were critical of her friendship with “Wicked” co-star Ariana Grande during the highly publicized, worldwide press tour.
In a conversation with The Guardian, Erivo talked about the “Wicked” press tour and the many viral moments that spawned from the stars as she sat with Grande for one interview after another and seemed to really enjoy being around her.
It got to the point that their closeness and friendship started to irk many online, and now Erivo is calling them out.
“It was interesting that there were many people who had become psychologists from their couches,” Erivo 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. Why are they showing emotion? How dare they cry? And how dare they laugh? And how dare they be emotive and alive?”
She added: “It’s a double-edged sword. 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 “Wicked” press tour proved to be a generator for one viral moment after another. Most popular among them came from Tracy E. Gilchrist’s interview with the pair told the“Wicked” co-stars she was “holding space” for the lyrics of one of the film’s songs, and Grande and Eviro awkwardly held one another’s fingers while responding.
It became so big that when Gilchrist went on to other interviews and talked with Timotheé Chalamet and Elle Fanning for “Into the Unknown” the two held each other’s fingers and talked to the reporter like they were meeting a star.
“Before I was even seated, Elle looked up, and saw me, and said, ‘Tracy! Oh, Tracy’s famous.’ She then said, ‘My sister and I do the finger-hold all the time.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Your sister, Dakota [Fanning]?!’” Gilchrist told Out.
She added: “Timothée said he couldn’t believe he was talking to me, and I’m sitting there thinking the same about them; these actors I’ve watched and admired for years.”
The post Cynthia Erivo Says Fans’ ‘Annoyance’ Over Ariana Grande Friendship Would Not Have Happened With Male Co-Stars appeared first on TheWrap.
