Cynthia Erivo shared for the first time what was going through her mind when she shielded “Wicked: For Good” co-star Ariana Grande from an overzealous fan who rushed at her during the film’s premiere in Singapore.
Erivo spoke in an exclusive interview with Savannah Guthrie on TODAY on Nov. 20 about the potentially frightening moment when a man named Johnson Wen rushed at Grande at the event. Erivo pried Wen off Grande while costar Michelle Yeoh put her arms around Grande to pull her away from Wen.
“I wasn’t really thinking,” Erivo said. “I just wanted to make sure my friend was safe. I’m sure he didn’t mean us harm, but you never know with those things, and I wanted to make sure that she was OK. That was my first instinct.”
Erivo and Grande have become close during the filming of the two “Wicked” films and often have been inseparable during their press tours to promote the hit movies.
“This is a long-lasting friendship for us,” Erivo told Savannah. “We’re kind of like sisters at this moment. And I think we’ve both learned from each other and given each other some really, really beautiful gifts. We’ve really looked after each other through this.”
Video of the incident appears to show that Grande was not aware of the situation and looked scared as the man ran toward her and put his arm around her. Security then rushed in and took the man to the ground after Erivo worked to separate him from Grande.
The man was identified as Wen, a social media influencer who has in the past stormed stage shows by performers like Katy Perry and The Weeknd. He described himself in a message to NBC News as a “mega fan” of Grande and said he was “happy” to meet her.
Wen was sentenced on Nov. 17 to nine days in jail after pleading guilty to a charge of being a public nuisance.
Grande’s fans pointed out that she has been traumatized at previous events like the 2017 bombing of her concert in Manchester in which 22 people were killed.
“After all the trauma Ari has been through, this is beyond disrespectful,” one person commented on a video of the moment posted on Instagram by Wen. “Not just to her, but to the cast and to all the fans. It’s literally infuriating. You should be ashamed.”
