The Oscars. The Met Gala. The Olympics. Wearing a wardrobe’s worth of pink and green ensembles, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have gone far and wide to promote the new “Wicked” movie. But one interview the pair gave with Out magazine appeared to unexpectedly defy gravity.
In a clip of the filmed conversation, journalist Tracy E. Gilchrist told the “Wicked” stars about an observation she’s made among queer fans regarding the Broadway-musical-turned-film’s signature song: “I’ve seen this week people are taking the lyrics of ‘Defying Gravity’ and really holding space with that and feeling power in that.”
“I didn’t know that was happening,” Erivo replied.
“I’ve seen it, yeah,” Gilchrist confirmed.
“That’s really powerful,” Erivo said softly. “That’s what I wanted.”
After a brief pause, Erivo repeated: “I didn’t know that was happening.”
Gilchrist shrugged and gently explained: “I’ve seen it on a couple of posts. I don’t know how widespread it is, but you know I am in queer media.”
Grande said nothing, but nodded approvingly and reached over to hold Erivo’s pointer finger, which she grasped throughout the course of the exchange. A somber string rendition of the song played softly over the video of the, at times, socially fragile interaction.
The clip has been seen over 2 million times on Instagram since the LGBTQ magazine posted it last week. Somewhat inexplicably, it has elicited a tsunami of memes on social media.
In a meme he posted to X on Friday, Vanity Fair staff writer Chris Murphy poked fun at both the viral interview and internet punching bag Carrie Bradshaw, the main character of the hit HBO show “Sex and the City.”
The meme shows the tragically romantic Bradshaw, a writer, typing on her laptop and reads: “I couldn’t help but wonder… if Big could hold space for the lyrics of Defying Gravity, why couldn’t he hold space for me?”
The official X accounts for Merriam-Webster and New York City’s Empire State Building also weighed in on the matter.
“The 103rd floor of the Empire State Building was originally built to hold space for the lyrics of Defying Gravity,” the account for the iconic art deco building posted Saturday. (The building only has 102 floors.)
And on Sunday, the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus shared a video on TikTok and Instagram, showing dozens of its members singing and harmonizing to what appears to be a song made out of quotes from the interview.
“Really holding space with that and feeling power in that. Really holding space with that and feeling power in that,” the men sang. “I’ve seen it on a couple of posts, I don’t know how widespread it is, but you know I am in queer media.”
The viral interview managed to also grab the attention of traditional media.
ABC News’ “The View” dedicated an entire panel Tuesday to dissecting the viral clip and the cultural moment it is arguably spawning.
“Are we supposed to hold space for Trump supporters now?” co-host Joy Behar joked.
Gilchrist said in an interview that she was shocked by the response.
“In a meeting, someone said that I am a meme now, and I was like, ‘What?’ So, I had no idea,” she said. Later, “I was at lunch with a friend and my phone, everything just started blowing up.”
Within the last week, search interest for “holding space” was beating out the newly declared word of the year “demure,” according to Google Trends. Gilchrist said the term originated from a friend.
“For me, ‘holding space’ means being in the moment, taking time to really listen, to be in a conversation,” Gilchrist said. “The irony is, to me, ‘holding space’ is not being immersed in the internet.”
Gilchrist said she believes the viral moment was a result of having built a rapport with Erivo from a prior story this year and because it occurred in the days after the election.
“She knew what I meant. Ariana knew what I meant,” Gilchrist said. “And I think because it was in the wake of the election, it was serious.”
“It’s funny because that’s kind of the definition of high camp. Camp is sincere. Real camp is sincere,” Gilchrist added. “It’s campy the way it all happened and it’s authentic.”
Neither Grande nor Erivo has commented on the viral interview publicly. However, Grande sent Out a laughing emoji in response to an Instagram story the magazine posted about the viral interview, Gilchrist said.
The musical “Wicked” hit Broadway in 2003 and was an adaptation of the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,” which was based off of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel and later film “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”
The film adaptation of “Wicked” by Universal Pictures was made in two parts, with the first part having premiered Friday and the second part to be released in November of next year. (Comcast is the parent company of both NBC News and Universal Pictures.)
Gilchrist said that “Wicked” resonates with queer people because the story of Erivo’s green-skinned character, Elphaba, “is the story of an ‘other,’ someone who is treated differently because of something that is innate.”
The song “Defying Gravity” is about a decision facing Elphaba to either join forces with Oz’s tyrannical Wizard or follow her heart and challenge authority. In the finale of part one, fans find out whether Elphaba decides to “hold space” for her values.
