Cynthia Erivo says the world noticed “Depraved” as glitter, robes, and viral press tour moments.
What she lived behind the scenes was one thing fully totally different.
The Tony winner made historical past as the primary Black lady to play Elphaba within the main “Depraved” movie adaptation, turning her casting right into a defining cultural milestone.
However that historical past didn’t come with out controversy.
Months after the discharge of the movie’s sequel, “Depraved: For Good,” the Oscar-nominated actress is lastly talking her reality.
Erivo uncovered the emotional toll of being some of the seen Black ladies in Hollywood. Celebrated in a single breath, mocked within the subsequent.
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‘The Racism Within the UK Media Is Evident’: ‘Depraved’ Star Cynthia Erivo Will get Pushed Apart for Ariana Grande In UK Newspapers Regardless of Being British
In a revealing interview with Selection, Erivo mirrored on what she endured all through the movie’s rollout subsequent to Ariana Grande.
“I feel that we haven’t actually come to phrases with the insidious nature of how we view Black ladies,” Erivo stated. “As a result of that’s what was being made enjoyable of. It was my physique; it was my form; it was the truth that I used to be bald.”
The British actress stated a lot of the criticism uncovered a racial double normal that probably wouldn’t have surfaced if the roles have been reversed.
Her feedback arrived months after Erivo shortly rushed to defend her co-star throughout a daunting incident.
On the Singapore premiere of “Depraved” sequel in November 2025, a person later recognized as Jonathan Wen jumped over a barricade. He grabbed Grande because the forged walked the yellow brick highway carpet at Common Studios Singapore.
Movies confirmed Erivo dashing towards Wen and making an attempt to drag him away whereas safety scrambled to reply.
Cynthia Erivo protects Ariana Grande from somebody working onto the carpet on the ‘Depraved: For Good’ premiere in Singapore. pic.twitter.com/XxzlSVMJjf
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 13, 2025
Grande, who nonetheless lives with trauma from the 2017 Manchester Area bombing, appeared visibly shaken afterward.
“No person moved. No person moved,” Erivo recalled. “So I moved as a result of my mind went, ‘Get him away! Get him out of right here!’”
However as an alternative of common reward, social media shortly flooded with jokes portraying Erivo as Grande’s “bodyguard.” Memes centered on her bald head, athletic body, and darker look in comparison with Grande’s softer pink “Glinda” picture.
“I’d hazard a guess that it could not have been the identical had it been the opposite manner round,” Erivo added.
One Selection reader agreed, writing, “Sure, folks love masculinising black ladies !!!!”
Others have been harsher.
“Can’t stand her and she or he didn’t appear to thoughts when she was crying and holding Ariana’s hand,” one critic wrote. One other individual tweeted, “Her quarter-hour are up. Even Ariana has moved on from her lmao.”
Another person defended her, writing, “Not the case in any respect, there was undoubtedly racism and misogyny rooted in plenty of the hate directed in the direction of her. Her complaints are utterly legitimate.”
The backlash surrounding Erivo didn’t start in Singapore. From the second she was forged as Elphaba, criticism adopted her in every single place.
Conservatives labeled her a “woke rent,” whereas some followers questioned why a Black lady was taking part in the green-skinned outsider character.
“There have undoubtedly been conversations about me getting this position as a ‘woke rent,’” Erivo beforehand informed Elle UK. “I needed to audition, similar to everyone else.”
The “Harriet” star additionally confronted backlash after years-old tweets resurfaced the place she appeared disrespectful towards Black People whereas celebrating her Nigerian and British identification.
Critics accused Erivo of disrespecting the tradition after regardless of her portrayal of icons like Harriet Tubman and Celie from “The Colour Purple.”
“Effectively there’s this. Cynthia Erivo desires to play well-known black People whereas disrespecting black People,” one X consumer wrote through the controversy.
Erivo later denied mocking Black People, insisting her tweets have been taken out of context.
Mockingly, whereas some Black People criticized Erivo, she additionally confronted racial bias in the UK through the “Depraved” rollout.
British tabloids typically centered Grande in protection of the movie’s London premieres whereas downplaying Erivo, regardless of her position because the film’s emotional lead and a British star.
The frustration boiled over when Erivo blasted a fan-edited “Depraved” poster that obscured her eyes whereas highlighting Grande’s face.
“To edit my face & conceal my eyes is to erase me,” she wrote on the time. “That’s simply deeply hurtful.”
Regardless of the controversies, Erivo says her friendship with Grande was real, even because the web tried to persuade audiences in any other case.
“I feel that individuals didn’t actually consider that we have been truly mates,” she informed Selection. “If I’m a good friend, then I’m a good friend.”
Now, after surviving the whirlwind of “Depraved,” Erivo seems decided to reclaim her narrative.
However her feedback revived debate about how audiences count on Black ladies to endure ridicule, defend others, and keep swish.
