Oscar voter: Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo 'creeped people out'

Much has been made about Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo not receiving 2026 Oscar nominations for their roles in Wicked: For Good and now one anonymous voter has insisted the reason for their snub is they 'creeped a lot of people out'. Grande, 32, played the supporting role of Glinda in the follow-up film to 2024's Wicked while Erivo, 39, starred as Elphaba. And now it has been claimed that Oscar voters were put off by the pair's overly affectionate press tour displays – which created multiple viral moments – according to one who spoke anonymously with News Nation.

'The movie wasn’t that great. The two have amazing on-screen chemistry but spent most of the movie apart,' the voter told the outlet's Paula Froelich. It was added: 'I was also just completely turned off by their promotional performances. They creeped a lot of people out and in their rush to feel authentic, came off as cosplaying.' Daily Mail has reached out to representatives from The Academy over these claims and has yet to hear back. In addition to their 'cringeworthy' red carpet moments, the actresses' noticeable weight loss was called out by concerned fans.

Another voter quote published by the outlet read, 'The movie wasn’t that good and [Erivo and Grande] sucked the air out of any red carpet they were on — and no one wanted to go through that again. 'Think of it this way: We were protecting Ariana from her anxiety — and Cynthia from having to intervene. Again.' Despite the Oscar snub, Grande was nominated at the 2026 Golden Globes but went home empty-handed. In November a fan ambushed the 7 Rings singer at the Singapore premiere of the film, prompting Erivo to step in and act as her protector. The man who charged at her was later identified as Johnson Wen, who goes by @PyjamaMann on Instagram.

Days before that Grande and Erivo were teased online for gushing over each other's 'auras.' In Paris they were asked to describe each other's 'auras' by an Elle magazine journalist. Grande said Erivo's was 'yellow,' like 'sunshine.' She added, 'I think there's also purple.' Meanwhile, Erivo said about her co-star: 'I see, like a ciel blue, you know? Like aqua. And like, sunset-orange.' Following the red carpet moment, one person wrote on Reddit, 'I can't go through this again,' in reference to the movie stars' previous 'cringeworthy' press run moments in 2024.

One of 2024's most memorable interview highlights was when the Positions hitmaker clasped the Harriet star's index finger in an emotional moment during an interview with journalist Tracy E. Gilchrist for Out Magazine. During a sit-down, journalist Tracy E. Gilchrist told Erivo that she'd seen people online discussing the lyrics of Defying Gravity – the stirring ballad her character sings in Wicked – and 'feeling power' from it. Erivo was visibly moved by the revelation as she replied, 'I didn't know that was happening. That's really powerful. That's what I wanted.'

As she spoke, Grande, who also got choked up over the comment, reached over and grabbed her friend's pointer finger in a display of support. Many people poked fun at the exchange on the internet, with one person asking on X, 'What was this?' while adding a screenshot of Ariana's hand wrapped around Cynthia's finger. 'Is this a sketch comedy show or something?' someone else wrote on the social media platform.