Cynthia Erivo has criticised the public response to a viral incident in which she protected Ariana Grande from a fan, claiming that 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 an apparent “fan” – later revealed to be a TikTok prankster who posts videos mobbing celebrities – jumped over the barricade onto the carpet and grabbed Grande.
Erivo pushed the man away before security intervened, with fans praising her and joking that she had acted as Grande’s “bodyguard” or “security guard”.
Speaking in a new interview, British actor Erivo said that the pair had been “terrified” during the incident.
However, she took issue with the way in which she had been painted as Grande’s “protector”, saying that this perpetuated ideas around Black strength and white fragility.
“I think that we haven’t really come to terms with the insidious nature of how we view Black women,” she told Variety, adding: “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.”
Recalling the incident, Erivo described how “nobody [had] moved”, so she did. “I moved because my brain went, ‘Get him away! Get him out of here!’ My immediate reaction was ‘Get him away from us.’”
The Tony winner said the man clung to Grande and “wouldn’t let go”, so she “just kept pushing”.
After the man was pushed away by security Erivo and their Wicked co-star Michelle Yeoh later comforting Grande, who appeared visibly shaken up by the incident.
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After the footage went viral, many fans had theorised that the event could have been particularly triggering for Grande, who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the wake of the bombing at her Manchester Arena concert in 2017.
The attacker was later identified as Australian Johnson Wen, who reportedly attempted to crash the red carpet a second time after being escorted out a second time.
Wen, who had previously posted clips to TikTok of himself running on stage and mobbing artists including Katy Perry and the Weeknd, was arrested the following day. He was charged with public nuisancy and sentenced to nine days in prison.