{"id":141604,"date":"2025-01-02T21:02:57","date_gmt":"2025-01-02T21:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/02\/ariana-grande-cynthia-erivo-were-really-f-ing-honest-about-wicked-pay\/"},"modified":"2025-01-02T21:02:57","modified_gmt":"2025-01-02T21:02:57","slug":"ariana-grande-cynthia-erivo-were-really-f-ing-honest-about-wicked-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/02\/ariana-grande-cynthia-erivo-were-really-f-ing-honest-about-wicked-pay\/","title":{"rendered":"Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo Were ‘Really F—ing Honest’ About Wicked Pay"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Ariana Grande<\/strong><\/a> and Cynthia Erivo<\/strong><\/a> were equal partners for Wicked<\/em><\/a>, both in front of and behind the camera.<\/p>\n

The actresses opened up about working together to establish equal salaries while filming the two-part movie musical in a joint interview with Variety<\/em><\/a> published on Thursday, January 2. \u201cWe went through our contracts together and called each other up,\u201d Grande, 31, shared. \u201c[We were like,] \u2018Did you see that? What do you think about that? Let\u2019s get together.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Erivo, 37, added: \u201cWe both went through it \u2014 \u2018What number are we doing? How do you feel about that?\u2019 We were really f\u2014ing honest. And that\u2019s really rare. People don\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noting that she and Erivo are \u201cvery different,\u201d Grande told the outlet that \u201cher needs [became] my needs\u201d while working on the project. Erivo reiterated her words, stating: \u201cAnd her needs become mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>Ariana Grande Jokes She and Cynthia Erivo Are ‘Insufferable’ on Press Tour<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tAriana Grande and Cynthia Erivo can\u2019t stop and won\u2019t stop gushing about each other during their Wicked press tour. \u201cCynthia is just an absolute brilliant gift of a human being,\u201d Grande, 31, told Paul Mescal in a new conversation for Variety\u2019s Actors on Actors issue published Tuesday, December 10. \u201cI think we tried to keep [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Shortly after the film\u2019s November 2024 theatrical release, false reports spread online that Grande was paid millions more for her role as Glinda than Erivo for her role as Elphaba.<\/p>\n

\u201cReports of pay disparity between Cynthia and Ariana are completely false and based on internet fodder,\u201d a spokesperson for Universal Pictures told Us Weekly<\/em><\/a> in a statement at the time. \u201cThe women received equal pay for their work on Wicked<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

A source close to Grande also told Us<\/em> that the rumors \u201cstarted on Reddit\u201d and were \u201ccompletely not true.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Director Jon M. Chu<\/strong> praised the women\u2019s equal pay negotiations in Thursday\u2019s Variety<\/em> interview. \u201cThis is a modern production,\u201d he stated. \u201cThis is what Hollywood should reflect. These are co-CEOs of \u2018Wicked<\/em> Inc.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Based on the Broadway musical and 1995 novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire<\/strong>, Wicked<\/em> tells the story of Elphaba, a.k.a. the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda, a.k.a. Glinda the Good Witch, before and during the events of The Wizard of Oz<\/em>. The plot follows the two women as their relationship develops from rival roommates to best friends to unlikely rivals amid the backdrop of societal turmoil in Oz.<\/p>\n

Grande and Erivo\u2019s decision to share salaries and contracts comes as no surprise to fans of Wicked<\/em> \u2014 which hit theaters in November 2024 \u2014 as the pair share a strong friendship on and off the big screen. The two have even gone viral for getting emotional<\/a> in several of their press tour interviews.<\/p>\n

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