Even before its world premiere in early November, Wicked was already one of the biggest movies of 2024.
Its stars, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, were earning headlines for the movie as early as the 2024 Academy Awards. But then the hits kept coming, with Grande and Erivo leaning into their roles as Glinda and Elpheba, respectively. Whether sartorially referencing their characters or waxing poetic about their time together on set, the starlets kept Wicked in the headlines for a considerable amount of time. Better yet, it seems to have paid off: The movie is projected to earn at least $100 million at the box office. That said, there’s a good reason the movie has made so many headlines. Some moments on the press tour were just the epitome of chaotic good.
It’s worth mentioning again. Grande and Erivo showed up to the 2024 Academy Awards with two glorious dresses that turned heads even while referencing the film. But while Erivo delivered a subtly sinister green dress with massive back ruffles that resembled a dragon spine, Grande simply threw on a pink comforter and called it a day. Though she practically disappeared beneath the dress’s heavy, sundry folds, she nevertheless managed to walk away with a trophy that night: scoliosis.
Grande and Erivo have had several opportunities to discuss and solidify their friendship throughout the Wicked press tour. Their lie detector test with Vanity Fair was no different. While Grande already stirred the pot by outing her brother Frankie’s two nose jobs, she earned even more side-eyes after not passing a question about the moon landing. Y’all, Ariana Grande is not sure if the moon landing was real!
Grande and Erivo have cried so much on the Wicked tour that it’s basically a meme. For some reason, every journalist who interviews them seems to be an oversharing theater kid, with one even telling Grande that she’s the reason he has a romantic partner. Then the interviewer makes the interview all about their feelings, which causes Grande or Erivo to then make it about their feelings, which almost always leads to mass chaos. Question: But is it journalism?
To be fair, most people – including casual Wicked fans such as myself – believe that the song “Popular” includes the following lyric: “I’ll teach you the proper poise when you talk to boys.” But apparently that’s wrong! When the official Wicked YouTube account shared this lyric, Grande very publicly corrected them, stressing that the word should be “ploys.” Poor Jenna in Marketing; that’s the last time she gives the social passwords to an intern while she’s at hot yoga.
Don’t you love when celebrities use their massive platforms and influence for good? In an interview on Las Culturistas, Grande called upon Disney – nay, the American people – to save the Tower of Terror ride at Disney World from demolition, even if it required a revolution. Yes, this was part of the Wicked press tour.
On a November 5 episode of the podcast Sentimental Men, Erivo discussed her Elpheba get-up, which included a corset, a harness, and considerable prep. According to the Oscar nominee, she was occasionally in the outfit for 12 to 14 hours a day without any relief. Literally, she did not relieve herself. “Once I’m in my costume — and this is probably a terrible idea — I’m not dealing with it. I’m not going to the bathroom,” she said. If this is her version of Leonardo DiCaprio’s “I slept inside an animal carcass” so that she can get an Oscar nomination in 2025, I’m here for it.
Why should the women have all the fun on the Wicked press tour? Jonathan Bailey, who plays the wizard Fiyero, had his own unhinged moment in an interview with the Wicked social media team. (Side-note: Are those people evil geniuses?) In a video posted to the Wicked socials, Bailey claimed that he once lost most of his Fiyero costume in transit on a plane. He then claimed to have taken a picture of himself in nothing but Fiyero’s trademark boots, meaning that there’s a picture of Bailey in only boots somewhere. Show me the receipts!
