Cynthia Erivo has criticised the public response to a viral incident in which she protected Ariana Grande from a fan, claiming the reaction reflected “the insidious nature of how we view Black women”.
Erivo and Grande were in Singapore for the premiere of Wicked: For Good in November when a TikTok prankster jumped over a barricade and grabbed Grande. Erivo pushed the man away before security intervened, prompting fans to joke that she had acted as Grande’s “bodyguard”.
Speaking to Variety, the British actor said the pair had been “terrified”, but took issue with being painted as Grande’s protector. “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,” she said.
Erivo added: “I would hazard a guess that it would not have been the same had it been the other way around.” She described how “nobody moved” during the incident, so she stepped in. “My immediate reaction was ‘Get him away from us.’”
The man, Australian Johnson Wen, was arrested and charged with public nuisance, receiving a nine-day prison sentence. He had previously posted videos of himself mobbing celebrities including Katy Perry and the Weeknd.
