NEWSWicked's Cynthia Erivo Shames Ariana Grande's 'Dangerous' Cyberbullies, Insists Haters 'Don't Know Anything About' the Singer
Cynthia Erivo wants people to focus on the positive.
Cynthia Erivo will always stick up for Wicked costar Ariana Grande.
While at the Red Sea Film Festival, the former was asked about the relentless online attacks the "Break Free" crooner, 31, receives on the daily about her looks, relationships and more.
Cynthia Erivo defended 'Wicked' costar Ariana Grande from cyberbullies.
Erivo, 37, said "cyberbullying is quite dangerous," noting it's "easy to be behind the computer typing words about a person you don’t know anything about."
The British actress encouraged people to "be the counterpoint" of negativity, sharing, "Be the person who tells the positive. What a person who has never met you thinks is never more important than what you think of yourself."
Erivo insisted Grande's haters 'don't know anything about' the singer.
In a recent interview with a French reporter, the Grammy winner teared up when she was asked how she handles the scrutiny.
"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. I’ve heard every version of it — of what’s wrong with me," she spilled of starting her career on Nickelodeon. "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?"
"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," Grande continued, referring to how social media users have been commenting on her weight loss. "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."
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Grande recently teared up when asked how she handles hate on social media.
The Scream Queens alum also faced criticism over her romance with Wicked costar Ethan Slater, as their relationship was uncovered before it was revealed the actor, 32, was divorcing Lilly Jay, the mother of his only child.
While some reports claimed the two didn't get together until their respective marriages were over — at the time, Grande was in the midst of her divorce from Dalton Gomez — countless people on social media accused her of being a homewrecker.
The Nickelodeon alum denied accusations she broke up boyfriend Ethan Slater's marriage to Lilly Jay.
The pop star discussed the drama in a Vanity Fair interview, insisting there was no infidelity involved.
"The most disappointing part was to see so many people believe the worst version of [our relationship]. There couldn’t be a less accurate depiction of a human being than the one that the tabloids spread about him," she declared. "No one on this earth tries harder or spreads themselves thinner to be there for the people that he loves and cares about."
Variety reported on Erivo's words at the film festival.
