Yahoo Lifestyle People Are Heartbroken Over This Clip Of Ariana Grande Looking Dejected After Cynthia Erivo Accidentally Rejected Her Attempt To Hold Hands
It’s fair to say that Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s press tour for Wicked quickly went down in history as one of the most straight-up bizarre press tours that we’ve seen in recent years.
If you need reminding, both stars sparked concern when they repeatedly ended up in floods of tears during interviews, with the two also appearing to be incredibly in tune with one another’s feelings.
In November, people were particularly taken aback by a baffling exchange between Cynthia and a journalist about the star’s epic musical number in the movie, “Defying Gravity.”
In the clip, which almost immediately went viral, reporter Tracy E. Gilchrist told Cynthia: “I’ve seen this week, people are taking the lyrics of ‘Defying Gravity’ and really holding space with that and feeling power in that.”
Cynthia immediately put her hand to her chest as she gently admitted: “Uh, I didn’t know that that was happening.” Appearing at a loss for words, she then choked up and said: “That’s really powerful, that’s what I wanted.”
This is where the interview took an even stranger turn, with Ariana — who was sitting next to Cynthia — looking incredibly serious as she solemnly reached out and held onto Cynthia’s index finger.
Cynthia appeared to shed some light on this situation in a subsequent interview, where she explained that she’d learned that her costar needs physical touch to comfort her when she is feeling overwhelmed.
“Ari needs contact when there’s emotion,” she said. “She needs to be close, so I just be there for a second.”
But on Wednesday, a clip resurfaced on X that showed one time when Cynthia unknowingly rejected Ariana’s reach for comfort — and it has quickly gained traction.
For reference, the footage was taken during a Wicked screening and Q&A in New York City back in November.
In the video, Cynthia is speaking to the audience, and, at one point, places her hand on the arm of Ari’s chair.
Almost immediately, Ari reaches over — but when Cynthia inadvertently moves her hand away, Ari quickly retracts her own back to her lap and looks downcast as she awkwardly smiles to herself.
X @arianagrandebr / Via x.com
An Ariana fan account posted this zoomed-in video on X earlier this week, and it didn’t take long for the reactions to come pouring in.
One viral tweet that reposted the video and has racked up more than 7.8 million views and tens of thousands of likes and retweets reads: “OH BAAABY NOOOOO SOMEONE GRAB HER HAND RIGHT NOW.”
The same user then shared a screenshot of Ari’s dejected-looking response in the video alongside a string of crying emojis.
“this sequence of facial expressions is killing me,” somebody else wrote alongside a selection of screengrabs of Ari’s face in the clip.
While another admitted: “I’d throw up if someone clipped me doing something like this and posted it.”
And somebody else joked: “cynthia’s index finger hates seeing ariana grande coming.”
You can watch the full clip below — what do you make of it? Let me know in the comments!
OH BAAABY NOOOOO SOMEONE GRAB HER HAND RIGHT NOW pic.twitter.com/T3VTMX6alt
— emily ౨ৎ⋆ (@grandesglinda) January 15, 2025
X @grandesglinda via X @arianagrandebr / Via x.com
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