Picture: Rebecca Sapp/Getty Photos for Santa Barbara Worldwide Movie Feestival
Each Depraved press excursions turned Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande’s relationship into an object of cultural fascination for a number of causes, most of them deeply amusing. However there’s one viral second Erivo wish to revisit: when she was likened to Grande’s bodyguard after defending her from a fan in Singapore. The jokes might have appeared innocuous, however in a Selection interview, Erivo famous the racial dynamics at play. “I feel that we haven’t actually come to phrases with the insidious nature of how we view Black girls,” she stated.
On the Depraved: For Good premiere in Singapore, a fan managed to leap over the barricade and accost Grande, grabbing her round her shoulders. Erivo stepped in between Grande and the person, showing to defend Grande along with her personal physique. The second was captured on video and shared on TikTok, the place it instantly went viral. Commenters had been particularly taken with Erivo’s response, praising her velocity, protectiveness, and biceps. Many additionally referred to as her Grande’s “bodyguard.”
Cynthia Erivo provides ‘bodyguard’ to her resume as she jumps in to guard Ariana Grande from a wild fan on the pink carpet. #Queen https://t.co/2GTBQTuWJK
— The Randy Report 🇺🇸 🏳️🌈🇺🇦 (@randyslovacek) November 14, 2025
The Bodyguard remake ought to star Ariana Grande-Butera and Cynthia Erivo
— miss pigathia lee (@nell_nickson) April 17, 2025
Erivo instructed Selection that she thinks the “bodyguard” memes had been actually about her “physique” and “the truth that I used to be bald.” She stated there was an assumption that she was bigger than Grande, “and so I needed to be controlling or defending, and that was my position.” Erivo added, “I’d hazard a guess that it could not have been the identical had it been the opposite means round.” She isn’t pulling this out of skinny air. Black girls being masculinized is an historic racist trope. Erivo stated the second type of put her off Oscar campaigning, however thankfully, her retreat from publicity has not been everlasting.
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