About

Cynthia Erivo Protecting Ariana Grande refers to memes and jokes about actress Cynthia Erivo and actress Ariana Grande's friendship, which prompted discourse online during the promotional circuits for their films Wicked and Wicked: For Good in 2024 and 2025. The duo claimed to have formed a close friendship while filming both movies, with the press junket for the first installment of the franchise prompting memes and jokes about them being overly emotional and crying repeatedly during interviews, among other mannerisms perceived by many as odd.

In 2025, several internet users commented on their belief that Cynthia Erivo had grown overly protective of Ariana Grande, after a video of Erivo protecting Grande from a fan who rushed the red carpet went viral in mid-November 2025. Other internet users speculated over both actresses appearing visibly thinner while filming and promoting Wicked and suggested that they may be bonding over a shared eating disorder.

Origin

Actresses Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Michelle Yeoh were on the red carpet for the premiere of Wicked: For Good in Singapore on November 13th, 2025, when social media prankster and Instagram^[3] user @pyjamamann rushed to grab Grande and pose with her.^[1]

A video posted by the X^[2] / Twitter account @PopBase shows him putting his arm around Ariana Grande and jumping up and down before Cynthia Erivo removes his hands from Grande and hugs her protectively.

Photos of Cynthia Erivo hugging Ariana Grande protectively began making the rounds on November 13th, as seen in posts by X^[4] user @miguelaraizac, who made a post that translates to, "I still can't get over how Cynthia reacted faster than security 😭 she'd literally give her life for Ariana," and gathered over 60,000 likes in two weeks.

Also on November 13th, Instagram^[5] user @itsjmaine reposted the image, gathering over 32,000 likes in two weeks.

Spread

Several internet users posted memes and jokes about Cynthia Erivo protecting Ariana Grande on November 14th, 2025, with the parody X^[6] account @Poo_Crave writing, ""Ariana Grande Speaks Out About Crazed Fan in Singapore: 'I should’ve Molly whopped that twink but thankfully I had my stud with me,'" and gathering over 15 million views and 170,000 likes in two weeks.

On November 18th, TikToker^[11] @stinkyasher posted a video posing as Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande during press interviews for Wicked, gathering over 52 million plays and 7 million likes in two weeks.

Also on November 14th, 2025, Facebook^[9] user Descendants of the Moon posted an image of Cynthia Erivo hugging Ariana Grande, writing, "My guides keeping an eye on every hater while I stay cute and unbothered 🧿." The post gathered over 4,000 reactions in two weeks.

On November 20th, TikToker^[7] @thiskasai posted a video that read, "How Cynthia Erivo be protecting Ariana Grande," gathering over 21 million plays and 3 million likes in 10 days.

On November 21st, 2025, Redditor sydney2high posted an image of Cynthia Erivo protecting Ariana Grande to the subreddit /r/conspiracy,^[8] gathering over 6,000 upvotes in 10 days. The post read, "What is happening with Ariana Grande and Cynthia?"

On November 23rd, Facebook user Stefano Xavier Garcia posted a meme to the Facebook^[12] group HALO that read, "Ariana Grande and that creepy bald woman that follows her around everywhere." The post gathered over 17,000 reactions in a week.

On November 24th, TikToker^[10] @floptonka posted a video montage showing Cynthia Erivo watching over and protecting Ariana Grande, gathering over 20 million views and 3 million likes in a week.

Memes depicting Cynthia Erivo protecting Ariana Grande also became popularized in the comment sections of TikTok posts in late 2025, with two notable examples being shown below:

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References