โI felt my humanity was bastardisedโ: Cynthia Erivo says reaction to Ariana Grande red carpet incident rooted in racism
Wicked co-star said reactions to the incident, which included suggestions she was Grandeโs โbodyguardโ, reflect an insidious view of Black women Wicked star Cynthia Erivo has said that reactions to the incident at the Singapore premiere of Wicked: For Good, in which she stepped in to fend off a red-carpet invader who grabbed co-star Ariana Grande, revealed โthe insidious nature of how we view Black womenโ and put her off campaigning for Oscars. In an interview with Variety, Erivo said that she and Grande were โterrifiedโ when Johnson Wen jumped a barrier at Universal Studios Singapore and rushed towards them. โNobody moved. Nobody moved. So I moved because my brain went, โGet him away! Get him out of here!โ โฆ And what people couldnโt see is that he wouldnโt let go [of Grande]. He wouldnโt let go. So I just kept pushing at him to get him off.โ Continue reading...