Cynthia Erivo has spoken for the first time about the crazy fans who grabbed Ariana Grande at the Wicked: For Good premiere in Singapore last week.
According to Entertainment Weekly magazine, the Tony Award winner said she and her co-stars “went through some challenges” together during the Screen Actors Guild screening over the weekend.
The 38-year-old actress didn’t reveal the incident she was referring to, but she alluded to the moment that made headlines when Johnson Wen jumped over a barricade and charged at Grande.
“I mean, even last week,” Erivo said. “To be honest, I’ll be honest with you, we’ve had to really address some things.
“This film really allowed us to grow as people, as friends, as sisters, as artists, as actresses,” she continued.
According to the newspaper, Grande was visibly emotional and in tears as Erivo spoke.
“I miss being in groups of people like this all the time,” Erivo continued, saying he was “desperately grateful,” while noting that “we rarely have groups of people this close together on set.”
“It’s not often you get a family like this, and we were too. How lucky we are to be a part of it,” she exclaimed.
Erivo said that the cast members “were brave enough to dig into themselves and find out a little more about who they are and let the characters they play be known.”
She added: “Then I was too scared to look and had to dig out some things that I had stepped on or put under my feet.”
Grande has yet to break her silence about Wen’s viral ambush.
The “Thank U Next” singer, 32, refrained from mentioning the incident while sharing an Instagram summary last Friday, captioning it, “Thank you Singapore ♡ I love you 🫧.”
Wen, who has previously prosecuted other celebrities, was arrested.
Despite telling his Instagram followers that he was “free,” he was sentenced to nine days in jail for causing a public nuisance.
Erivo was the first to react during last Thursday’s attack, reaching Grande before security guards and pulling her away from Wen.
“We need to hire Cynthia who never played security,” one X user tweeted, while another described Erivo as “very fast” with “faster reflexes than several adult male security guards.”
She and Grande developed a close bond while co-starring as Elphaba and Glinda, respectively, and last year Erivo described the “Triumph” graduate as a “sister” to El.
“We had some really beautiful conversations, some of which weren’t easy, but that’s what makes a relationship,” the Broadway star told the magazine in November 2024.
