SINGAPORE — Cynthia Erivo intervened to push Johnson Wen away after he grabbed Ariana Grande and would not let go during the premiere of 'Wicked: For Good' at Universal Studios Singapore. She said she and Grande were 'terrified' when Wen jumped a barrier and rushed toward them at the event.
Wen, who has a history of disrupting public events, was later sentenced to nine days in jail for the incident, according to court filings. In the aftermath, she said she faced a wave of social media commentary that misrepresented her actions and questioned her role at the premiere.
She said social media reactions included suggestions that she was Grande’s 'bodyguard,' a characterization she found dehumanizing. She stated that the comments reflected 'the insidious nature of how we view Black women' and focused on her 'physique,' 'shape,' and the fact that she was 'bald,' leading to assumptions about her status relative to her co-star.
She said she believed the reaction would have been different if the roles had been reversed between her and Grande. 'I just felt like my humanity had been bastardised,' she said, adding that she felt her instinctive action had been misrepresented because of how people view women who look like her.
As a result of the backlash, she said she became reluctant to campaign for Oscars for 'Wicked: For Good.' She said she did not want to put herself through the Oscar campaign process and did not feel she deserved it. The film earned $541 million worldwide but received no Oscar nominations, compared to the first 'Wicked' film, which earned $765 million in 2024 and won two Oscars.
No independent assessment of Cynthia Erivo’s claims was available.