Ariana Grande Is ‘Holding Space’ For Her Awkward Response to the Viral ‘Defying Gravity’ Interview

Are people born holding space for the lyrics of “Defying Gravity”? Or do they have holding space for the lyrics of “Defying Gravity” thrust upon them? For Ariana Grande, it was definitely the latter.

In a new interview with Variety, Grande confessed that she was just as confused as everyone else when a journalist told her costar Cynthia Erivo that Wicked fans were “holding space” for the lyrics “Defying Gravity” in a viral interview posted on Out Magazine’s Instagram on November 19.

“This week, people are taking the lyrics to ‘Defying Gravity’ and really holding space with that and feeling power in that,” reporter Tracy E. Gilchrist told Erivo, who seemingly took the words to heart at the time.

“I didn’t know that was happening. That’s…really powerful,” Erivo responded, tearing up. “That’s what I wanted.” As Grande gently held and tapped one of Erivo’s fingers in a somewhat bizarre show of support, Erivo repeated, “I didn’t know that was happening.”

Well, it turns out, nobody really did—least of all Ariana Grande. “So I had no idea what any part of it meant,” Grande told Variety in a new video, titled “Making a Meme,” which also featured Erivo and Wicked director Jon M. Chu. “I didn’t understand the first sentence. And then I definitely didn’t understand what was happening and how you responded,” Grande added, looking at Erivo.

“I was like, ‘Oh what did she say, what did you hear?’ And I just wanted to be there because I knew something big was happening and I didn’t know how to be there,” she told her costar.

At that point, Erivo interjected, admitted that she also “didn’t know how to be there,” having realized she and the interviewer weren’t fully on the same page. Grande continued, “[Gilchrist] said something that meant something to her, then it meant something totally different to you, and then she tried to kind of get somewhere else.”

It’s been a very touchy-feely press tour.

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