This past weekend, “Wicked: For Good” actress Cynthia Erivo attended the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s (SBIFF) Kirk Douglas Awards where she was honored for Excellence in Film. A moment that should have been celebratory quickly turned uncomfortable when FabTV reporter Fernando Escovar repeatedly pressed the actress on the red carpet.
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The clip circulating on social media shows Escovar questioning Erivo: “When did you know you were tough? You’re tough.” Erivo replied, “Am I?…I mean, I think I’m strong.” The interviewer continued, “Tough and strong?”
After an uncomfortable pause, mirrored by Erivo’s publicist in the background, Erivo graciously responded, “I think I’m strong, I think I’m vulnerable, I think I’m a myriad of different things.”
The FabTV reporter, seemingly pushing for his viral moment, adds, “A protector, too? You’re tough, you’re tough. You’re a tough person.”
The actress, obviously picking up what the interviewer was trying to put down, showed her media training prowess in her final retort with, “…I think I’m strong, and I think I also can be protective too…I think we can be both. I think it’s okay for us to be both strong, protected, and protective.”
For those not fluent in the language of microaggressions, the question seems harmless; however, for Black women who have historically been denied the privilege of softness and femininity, this felt like Misogynoir 101.
The line of questioning was clearly alluding to the Nov. 13 “Wicked: For Good” event in Singapore, when an aggressive fan ambushed Erivo’s film co-star, Ariana Grande, and she instinctively stepped in, pulling the man of Ariana Grande and demanding he let her go.
The internet soon twisted this human moment of protecting a friend into a meme-filled narrative that Erivo was a Hulk-like ‘bodyguard” shielding a fragile white woman.
Content creators like @TheFilmDiva on Instagram shared her thoughts on these ‘jokes’ acknowledging them as harmful and steeped in misogynoir.
The FabTV interview comes in stark comparison to Erivo’s recent appearance on Candice Brathwaite’s “Conversations with Candice” podcast. In that conversation, Erivo was allowed to be expansive, reflective, and fully human.
In particular, Brathwaite references a line in the “Wicked” film where Elphaba tells Glinda that she is ‘limited’ in her ability to change Oz and that Glinda must finish what she cannot.
The conversation hit differently, especially for Black women familiar with being overlooked and unheard in rooms they helped build. Erivo’s answer was layered in honesty as she spoke about impact, visibility, and what it means to try to change systems never designed with Black women in mind.
These two interviews show the stunning differences in how Black women are perceived versus who they actually are. Cynthia Erivo isn’t “tough.” She is talented, vulnerable, thoughtful, powerful, and deserving of the same range of humanity routinely afforded to others.
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