Culture
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo “Scared a Lot of People,” Anonymous Oscar Voter Claims Amid Wicked Snubs
Oscar Voter who’s kept his Identity Secret Says the Stars of Wicked: For Good “Creeped a Lot of People Out” After Snub of the 2026 Nominations
People have been speculating about the reasons why Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo were not nominated for 2026 Oscars for their performances in Wicked: For Good. 32-year-old Grande played Glinda in the sequel of 2024’s Wicked, while 39-year-old Erivo took the lead as Elphaba.
Presently, an unnamed Oscar voter has come up with a straightforward reason, pointing out that some voters were displeased with the duo’s overly loving press tour that led to several viral moments. The voter, speaking under the cover of anonymity to News Nation’s Paula Froelich, also took a jab at the movie.
“It wasn’t a very good movie. These two have great chemistry on screen but for most of the movie, they are apart,” the voter said.
On top of that, they said, “I was really put off by their promo performances. I think they creeped a lot of people out and in their hurry to be genuine, they looked like cosplayers.”
More Voters anonymously criticize Wicked campaign, call red carpet moments “cringeworthy”
Besides their extensively chosen press tour love, some Oscar voters were also reportedly only half listening as the actresses Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s major weight loss was causing anxiety among the fans and online discussion.
Another Oscar voter, who has asked not to be named, is quoted by the magazine saying, “The film was not really good and [Erivo and Grande] were so overpowering that they took the spotlight away from the red carpet — and no one wanted to endure that twice.”
The voter continued, “Let me explain: We were keeping Ariana away from her panic attack and Cynthia away from having to intervene. Again.”
Grande, who was not nominated for an Oscar, was still nominated for a 2026 Golden Globe, but she had no award to carry home eventually.
This harsh treatment came after a number of moments that went viral on the Wicked: For Good press tour. In November, at the Singapore premiere of the film, a fan sprinted at Grande, and Erivo came to her rescue. The man was later revealed to be Johnson Wen, who @PyjamaMann is his Instagram handle.
A few days back, the two were also mocked online for some time when they were very enthusiastic about each other’s “energies” at a Paris interview with Elle, which again highlighted the highly visible – and polarizing – promotional appearances.
Wicked Stars’ Viral “Aura” Comments and Highly Emotional Press Moments Face Backlash
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s emotional moments on their press tour continued to be a point of discussion with different people having varied opinions on them. For example, Grande once explained that Erivo’s aura was like a “yellow” color referring to “sunshine” but besides that, she also said she saw “purple”. Erivo also described an aura of “sky blue” and “sunset orange” for Grande.
Their conversation led to a stir of negative comments on social media, one Reddit user expressing: “I can’t go through this again,” referring to the lead-up to the pair’s “cringeworthy” 2024 press run.
Among the most widely commented moments of that earlier tour was when the interview came from Out Magazine journalist Tracy E. Gilchrist. A very close moment saw Grande holding Erivo’s index finger tightly as Gilchrist was talking about the influence of the song “Defying Gravity.” The journalist pointed out that fans online are “feeling power” through the soul-stirring ballad, which is the central anthem of Erivo’s character, Elphaba.
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have a Tearful Moment in their “Defying Gravity” Performance Which Led to Mockery Online
Cynthia Erivo was quite shaken after she was told that people were taking the lyrics of “Defying Gravity” to inspire them after watching fans online. In the interview, she told that, “I didn’t know that was going on. That’s really strong. That’s what I wanted.”
Erivo was on the point of tears and so was Ariana Grande, who held her co-star’s finger for a while in a comforting way.
Their moment was one of the most discussed scenes online and people were mocking them a lot through social media. One person on X shared the screenshot of Grande’s hand holding Erivo’s finger and wrote, “What was this?” Another one said, “Is this a sketch comedy show or something?”
