Earlier this month, Ariana Grande quietly defended her Wicked costar Cynthia Erivo against an onslaught of distasteful memes.
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After Cynthia shielded Ariana from an aggressive fan on a red carpet, several internet users recreated the moment in now-viral TikToks — many of which masculinized and villainized Cynthia for simply stepping in to protect her friend.
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Instagram user @thefilmdiva was one of many people to call out the memes, stating in a video that has since been liked by Ariana: “I honestly do not find what’s funny with all of these different memes and videos villainizing and making fun of Cynthia Erivo…I don’t like it at all. I feel like there’s a lot of underlying tones of racism, misogyny… Why is it always men? Why are you making her very masculine?”
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With this in mind, fans were even more appalled after seeing a recent clip of Cynthia appearing uncomfortable when an interviewer repeatedly called her “tough” on a red carpet.
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“When did you know you were tough? You’re tough,” the FabTV interviewer asked, to which Cynthia replied, “Am I?”
“I think so,” he said. Cynthia then responded, “I mean, I think I’m strong.”
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“Tough and strong?” asked the interviewer, to which Cynthia replied, “I think I’m strong, I think I’m vulnerable, I think I’m a myriad of different things.”
The interviewer then seemingly alluded to the aforementioned red carpet incident with Ariana as he told Cynthia, “A protector, too? You’re tough, you’re tough. You’re a tough person.”
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Cynthia responded, “Well, I think I’m strong, and I think I also can be protective, too. You know what I mean? I think we can be both. I think it’s OK for us to be both strong, protected, and protective.”
Meanwhile, Cynthia’s publicist, Meredith O’Sullivan, could be seen visibly reacting to the interviewer’s comments in the background. You can watch the clip here.
The clip has since gained traction online, with several people speculating that the interviewer was trying to “provoke a reaction” from Cynthia. “It’s crazy because she comes across as such a soft, feminine woman to me. But as a black woman, I know what they mean with tough,” one person said on Reddit. “While I am so glad she defended Ari from that creep, I’m tired of people flipping her vibe. Cynthia in general seems like a kind and soft-spoken person,” someone else wrote, while more people called out the “unwarranted hate” she’s been receiving.
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“She’s much more poised than that question deserved,” one user wrote. “She handled that so well but I bet she’s tired af of handling these fuck ass microaggressive questions. That pissed ME off,” another person echoed.
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“As a black woman, this kind of rhetoric is so exhausting. Stop trying to masculinize us unless we are specifically looking for it! Nobody would ask this question to her co-star. Go look at the recent drawings and memes coming out of this situation. She’s getting flak and racist responses for helping defend her costar. It’s disgusting,” one comment read.
“She handled this wonderfully but this is super painful. She is absolutely strong but tough feels incorrect and to be frank I don’t see ‘tough’ as I’ve followed her career. Nor does she bring tough to Elphaba. As a BW our normal vibes are always misinterpreted as tough, aggressive, angry, I’m so frustrated for her throughout this press run,” someone else said.
“Her publicist’s face says it all,” one viral post on X read, while another popular tweet said, “What the fuck bro? I feel so fucking bad for her.”
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