Cynthia Erivo and “Wicked” co-star Ariana Grande slammed “dangerous” cyber bullying after both women were subjected to online abuse.
Ariana teared up while addressing the weight loss comments in an interview with French reporter Sally. Ariana explained how she copes with society’s “beauty standards” and the “overwhelming” pressure women feel “to always look perfect.”
“My goodness. I’m not gonna – cry” she said, while fighting back tears.
After composing herself, Ariana said she has been fighting online bullying since her teenage years. “I’ve been kind of doing this in front of the public and kind of been a specimen in a petri dish really since I was 16 or 17, so I have heard it all,” she said.
“I’ve heard every version of it — of what’s wrong with me. And then you fix it, and then it’s wrong for different reasons. But that’s everything from — even just the simplest thing — your appearance, you know?”
Ariana added: “I think that it’s something that is uncomfortable no matter what scale you’re experiencing it on,” she said, “even if you go to Thanksgiving dinner, and someone’s granny says, ‘Oh my God, you look skinnier! What happened?’ or ‘You look heavier! What happened?’”
Ariana was then comforted by Cynthia, who was also the subject of cruel comments about her weight online.
“I think in today’s society, there is a comfortability that we shouldn’t have at all — commenting on others’ looks, appearance, what they think is going on behind the scenes or health or how they present themselves,” Ariana continued.
“From what you’re wearing to your body to your face to your everything — there’s a comfortability that people have commenting on that that I think is really dangerous,” Ariana told Sally as she leaned in to add, “and I think it’s dangerous for all parties involved.”
Cynthia’s unexplained weight loss and hair loss prompted fans to speculate that she was receiving chemotherapy for a terminal illness.
“I think cyber bullying is quite dangerous to be honest because it’s easy to be behind the computer and type words about a person you don’t know anything about,” Cynthia said.
“I think that the more we can protect ourselves from that the better… the best way to support someone who is going through that is really to be a counterpoint to whatever is coming at that person – be the voice that is positive.”
Cynthia added: “We decided that we were going to make sure we protected each other, that we were kind to one another, that we were going to work with each other and build a relationship, which meant that when we were on set, we both felt really safe to play and to do the roles as we needed.”
