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SZA has condemned the alleged mistreatment of Cynthia Erivo after her promotional events with Ariana Grande for their film, Wicked: For Good. The Kill Bill songstress claimed that the attacks directed toward Erivo were classic examples of "misogynoir." Cambridge Dictionary defines the word "misogynoir" as:
"Misogyny directed towards black women."
On Friday, SZA responded in the comments of an Instagram post highlighting the racial undertones of the memes about Erivo after the movie's promotional tour. The five-time Grammy winner wrote:
"Ir not bugging, and no one is too woke! It's CLASSIC Misogynoir! NOTHING ELSE !!! Can't believe it's openly a thing in 2025 .. everyone's gonna have cognitive dissonance 2 years later like 'remember when everyone attacked Cynthia for being black, bald and nurturing?... that was crazy'...it could jus stop now lol"
Memes about Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande after their Wicked press tour have gone viral on social media. They became more mainstream following an incident involving the two and an Australian fan on November 13, 2025.
For those unfamiliar, Ariana Grande was attacked by a fan named Johnson Wen during a Wicked: For Good promotional event in Singapore. The 26-year-old Australian leapt over the barricade and ran toward the singer after evading security. He ended up grabbing Grande, who was with Cynthia Erivo on the red carpet. Footage of the incident went viral online.
Clips also showed Erivo protecting her co-star and pushing Wen away from Grande. According to a BBC report, Wen was accused of causing a public nuisance and was found guilty in court. The Australian is also known for disrupting concerts of major artists like Katy Perry and The Weeknd with his gatecrashing antics.
"Wanted to make sure my friend was safe": When Cynthia Erivo opened up about protecting Ariana Grande from Johnson Wen
During a recent interview with TODAY, Cynthia Erivo opened up about the viral fan ambush incident at the Singapore premiere of Wicked: For Good. The 38-year-old explained that her reaction was driven by instinct to protect her friend.
"I was really thinking, ‘I just wanted to make sure my friend was safe,' you know? I'm sure he didn't mean us harm, but you never know with those things, and I wanted to make sure that she was OK. That was my first instinct,” claimed the actress.
In the interview, Erivo also spoke about her friendship with Grande. Referring to the songstress as her sister, she said:
"This is a long-lasting friendship for us. We're kind of like sisters at this moment in time, you know? And I think we've both learned from each other and given each other some really, really beautiful gifts. We've really looked after each other through this."
Wicked: For Good was released on November 21, 2025, in the United States and has been extremely successful at the box office since day one. According to The Guardian, Wicked: For Good earned $226 million over the weekend, which is significantly higher than its predecessor ($164.2 million).
Directed by Jon M. Chu, the film stars Erivo, Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Bowen Yang, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, and Ethan Slater, among others.
Cynthia Erivo opts out of Wicked: For Good interviews due to voice loss
