Ariana Grande’s Generous Move to Ensure She and Cynthia Erivo Got Equal Terms in Their ‘Wicked’ Contracts – “I want us to have each other’s back”

Ariana Grande is living up to her reputation as Glinda the Good. Time and time again, she has proved that she deserves to be as beloved as she is and Wicked has only added to her popularity if anything. Despite this, she remains a sweet and generous soul as most fans believe she is.

Her recent admission about how far she went to make sure that she and her co-star, Cynthia Erivo were on the same page about their contracts for the film only solidifies the fact that she is a genuinely nice person. There were a lot of rumors about pay disparity when the film first came out, but Grande seems to be determined to set the record straight about what happened.

Ariana Grande ensured she and Cynthia Erivo had equal terms in their contracts for Wicked

There is a reason someone wise once advised people against believing everything they see on the internet. The media and fans are oftentimes way too quick to jump to conclusions about celebrities based on what they see on the internet. While some of those things actually turn out to be true, others are far from the truth.

Besides promoting one of the best musicals of this decade and an entirely new album, Grande has spent quite some time setting the record straight about certain things. The first of those is about the controversial beginning of her relationship with her co-star Ethan Slater. Now that that is settled, she is clarifying that she made sure that the terms of her and Cynthia Erivo‘s contracts for Wicked were equal.

In a recent interview with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, the 7 Rings songstress discussed a lot of things and in doing so, she also said:

When I got my contract, I called her, and I was like, “Hey, let’s go through this thing. Let’s go beat per beat through this together and make sure that we’re aligned in what we need, because if you need something, we need it together. I want us to have each other’s backs—your problems become my problems, and mine become yours.”

Grande and Erivo’s friendship is truly something. This has become abundantly clear from the many promotional interviews they did. They were each other’s biggest support systems every time one of them grew emotional. This new revelation is further proof that the Yes, And? singer only ever wanted the best thing for her friend.

Universal has already debunked rumors about the disparity in the salaries of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo

For several months, multiple sources claimed that Grande and Erivo were paid very different amounts for their work in the movie which explores the story of Glinda’s friendship with Elphaba as classmates at Shiz University. According to the rumors, Grande made $15 million for the film while Erivo earned $1 million (via Showbiz Galore).

This led to a lot of discussions on the internet as many fans claimed that the Harriet actress definitely deserved to be paid more for her performance. As with all other things on the internet, the matter went out of hand rapidly. It was only a matter of time before word reached the people at Universal Pictures.

Then, the studio took the matter into its own hands and stated to The Hollywood Reporter that no such thing had happened.

Reports of pay disparity between Cynthia and Ariana are completely false and based on internet fodder. The women received equal pay for their work on Wicked.

The movie has been doing phenomenally well at the box office and has received four Golden Globe Award nominations including Best Actress for Erivo and Best Supporting Actress for Grande. Additionally, it also earned 11 nominations at the Critics’ Choice Awards.