Cynthia Erivo has admitted she lost interest in campaigning for an Academy Award nomination following an incident at the Singapore premiere of Wicked: For Good last year.
At the spectacle in November, a man jumped over a barricade and grabbed her co-star Ariana Grande, with Cynthia quickly stepping in and pushing him away as security guards intervened.
Reflecting on the scary scene in an interview for Variety published on Wednesday, the British actress emphasised that everyone was "terrified".
However, Cynthia revealed that she was dismayed by social media videos in which she was portrayed as Ariana's "bodyguard" and that the online reaction impacted her desire to campaign for herself amid awards season.
"I just felt like my humanity had been bastardised," she declared. "I felt like something I did instinctively had been made to be something that it simply was not because of the way people see women who look like me, and because of the assumptions that are made, and I just didn't want to be a part of that, really and truly. I didn't want to put myself through it."
At the 2025 Academy Awards, the Harriet star was nominated for Best Actress for her portrayal of Elphaba Thropp in the first instalment, Wicked, while Ariana garnered a Best Supporting Actress nod. However, Wicked: For Good failed to receive any nominations at the 2026 event.
"I didn't feel like I deserved it," the 39-year-old continued. "It felt like there was already a sort of upturned nose at the second instalment, even though we all knew there was a second film coming and we were just doing our jobs."
Elsewhere in the conversation, Cynthia also addressed rumours suggesting that she and Ariana aren't friends in real life.
"Lots of psychologists seated at home deciding who we were, what we were going through, what we were doing and why," she added. "I think that people didn't really believe that we were actually friends. But that's also because people don't know me very well. If I'm a friend, then I'm a friend. If I'm not, then I'm not."
Cynthia is currently starring in the West End production of Dracula, which runs until Saturday.
