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SZA is coming to Cynthia Erivo‘s defense amid a wave of recent online bullying aimed at the Wicked star.
In the replies of a recent Instagram video calling out the onslaught of posts mocking everything from Erivo’s physique to the way she protected Ariana Grande from a red-carpet crasher in Singapore, the R&B hitmaker shared her two cents about why it shouldn’t be considered “too woke” to speak up. “It’s CLASSIC Misogynoir!” SZA wrote of the content targeting Erivo. “NOTHING ELSE !!!”
“can’t believe it’s openly a thing in 2025,” the singer continued in her comment. “everyone’s gonna have cognitive dissonance 2 years later like ‘remember when everyone attacked Cynthia for being black bald and nurturing?… that was crazy’ ..it could jus stop now lol.”
Misogynoir refers to the intersectionality of racism and sexism experienced all too frequently by Black women. Merriam-Webster defines the term as a “hatred of, aversion to, or prejudice against Black women.”
And while both Grande and Erivo have faced ample amounts of criticism for their looks and mannerisms amid the rollout for Wicked: For Good this past fall, the hate geared toward the latter has been particularly upsetting, given the racist undertones lurking beneath much of it. Many online trolls have depicted Erivo’s body in an exaggerated, overly masculine light, a practice that ties into a long history of society treating Black women as less feminine.
It’s something Erivo has dealt with her entire career, with the star telling Billboard Pride editor Stephen Daw in her June cover story that she is rarely considered for sensual or sexual roles. “Honestly, you rarely get that opportunity as Black women anyway,” she said at the time. “So I was just like, ‘Well, if I don’t put it in my own music, I’ll never get to put it anywhere else.’”
Fortunately, Erivo has built a thick skin over the years, a protective measure that’s unfortunately necessary while existing as a Black, queer woman in the entertainment industry. “I can’t change a person’s opinion of me; if they want to feel some way, there is nothing I can do about that,” she added in her Billboard cover story. “But I was so excited about being able to at least be one more face where someone could say, ‘Oh, my God, she did it and can still do it. She’s still creating, she’s still making. So maybe I can also do the same.’”
