Cynthia Erivo on Bodyguard Memes: ‘Humanity Bastardized’

During the press tour for the upcoming film ‘Wicked,’ a concerning incident occurred where a fan aggressively approached Ariana Grande. Actress Cynthia Erivo instinctively intervened to protect her co-star. However, the aftermath saw Erivo portrayed in memes as Grande’s ‘bodyguard,’ a depiction she found deeply hurtful and dehumanizing.

An Instinct to Protect

The incident happened at the Singapore premiere when a man bypassed security to grab Grande. Erivo recounted in an interview with Variety that nobody else moved to help. Her immediate reaction was to push the man away, especially considering Grande’s history of PTSD from the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.

Erivo explained that the man wouldn’t let go of Grande, necessitating her continued efforts to get him off. While many viewers praised her quick thinking and loyalty to her friend, some dismissed her actions as an overreaction, highlighting the perceived violation of personal space.

The Insidious Nature of Bias

The memes portraying Erivo as Grande’s bodyguard deeply troubled the Tony Award winner. She believes these portrayals reveal an ‘insidious nature’ in how Black women are perceived. Erivo felt her appearance – being bald, her physique, and her shape – led to assumptions that she was inherently controlling or protective, thus fitting a ‘bodyguard’ role.

She argued that if the roles were reversed, the reaction might have been different. Erivo felt her humanity was ‘bastardized’ because her instinctive act of protecting a friend was reinterpreted through a lens of racial and gender bias, reducing her to a stereotype.

Impact on Oscar Campaigning

The negative reverberations from the incident and the subsequent memes even impacted Erivo’s willingness to campaign for an Oscar. She admitted that the experience made her feel like her humanity had been misrepresented, and she didn’t want to subject herself to further scrutiny or misinterpretation.

Adding to her discouragement was a perceived negative sentiment towards the second installment of ‘Wicked,’ even though the cast and crew were simply doing their jobs. Erivo felt the mischaracterization of her actions contributed to a reluctance to put herself forward.