Cynthia Erivo is speaking out about being labeled Ariana Grande’s “bodyguard” after stepping in during a chaotic moment at the Singapore premiere of Wicked: For Good.
In a new interview with Variety, Erivo reflected on the unsettling incident that took place in November 2025, when a man reportedly jumped over a barrier and grabbed Grande during the event.
The situation was especially alarming given Grande’s past trauma following the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, which left 22 people dead and later led to the singer being diagnosed with PTSD.
“Nobody moved. Nobody moved,” Cynthia Erivo recalled while speaking with K.J. Yossman for Variety. “So I moved because my brain went, ‘Get him away! Get him out of here!’ My immediate reaction was ‘Get him away from us.’ And what people couldn’t see is that he wouldn’t let go [of Grande]. He wouldn’t let go. So I just kept pushing at him to get him off.”
Although many people applauded Erivo for stepping in, the incident quickly turned into online jokes and TikTok memes portraying her as Ariana Grande’s “bodyguard.” Erivo said the reaction highlighted deeper stereotypes surrounding Black women and how they are perceived publicly.
“I think that we haven’t really come to terms with the insidious nature of how we view Black women. And I’m sure people will read this and think, ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, it’s not about that.’ But it is,” she explained. “Because that’s what was being made fun of. It was my physique; it was my shape; it was the fact that I was bald; it was about what I looked like.
“And because of that, there was this assumption that I was bigger than my co-star and so I had to be controlling or protecting, and that was my role. I would hazard a guess that it would not have been the same had it been the other way around.”
Erivo also dismissed criticism claiming her response was too aggressive.
“A stranger is a stranger. Personal space is still personal space. It doesn’t belong to anyone, even if you feel you know the person,” she said. “In that moment, we were all terrified.”
The actress admitted the backlash may have also impacted how she approached awards season campaigning for Wicked: For Good.
“I think maybe in a way it did, actually,” Erivo shared. “I just felt like my humanity had been bastardized. I felt like something I did instinctively had been made to be something that it simply was not because of the way people see women who look like me, and because of the assumptions that are made, and I just didn’t want to be a part of that, really and truly. I didn’t want to put myself through it. I didn’t feel like I deserved it.”
She also noted that it seemed like some people were already dismissing the sequel before it even arrived.
“It felt like there was already a sort of upturned nose at the second installment, even though we all knew there was a second film coming and we were just doing our jobs,” she added.
The man involved in the incident, 26-year-old Johnson Wen — also known online as “Pyjama Man” — was later sentenced to nine days in prison in Singapore after pleading guilty to public nuisance, according to the BBC.
Wen, who previously disrupted events involving Katy Perry and The Weeknd, as well as multiple sports matches, reportedly told the judge he would “not do it again.”
Just one month later, he was reportedly escorted out of a Lady Gaga concert in Brisbane before the show even started.
