Cynthia Erivo is tired of people asking if she'll be "Defying Gravity" at the Oscars
"Why do people keep saying that?" the Wicked star asked in exasperation. "Our song is not nominated."
Photo: Giles Keyte (Universal Pictures)
Look: We get why people would like to see Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande perform “Defying Gravity” at the Oscars: 22 years after its debut, Stephen Schwartz’s anthem remains a genuine showstopper, the one bit of Jon M. Chu’s Wicked that even its harsher critics will genuinely concede lands. But Erivo would also like to remind you that there’s no way in hell said performance is happening.
The once-and-future Elphaba was asked about the rumor by Variety‘s Marc Malkin while walking the red carpet at Friday’s Critics Choice Awards (where Wicked took home several awards, including a Best Director triumph for non-Oscar-nominated Chu), and seemed genuinely perplexed by the question. After all, she pointed out—staring straight into the camera to add emphasis—zero songs from Wicked are nominated at the Oscars, because they can’t be: The category is “Best Original Song,” after all, and the first Wicked movie pulls its entire songbook from the stage musical. (Sequel Wicked: For Good will reportedly have an original, co-written by Erivo, so next year might, uh, sing a different tune.) “I don’t know why we would be doing that,” Erivo said, “Since our song is not nominated. That doesn’t happen. I don’t know what to tell you.”
Admittedly, a lot of Erivo’s statements (“This feels like wishful thinking to me, personally,” asking “Why does everyone keep saying that?”) do come off as the kind of hedging someone might do if they were hiding a big secret and wanted to deflect without outright lying. But when asked whether she’d been in talks with the Academy about the performance, Erivo did give a straight, and blunt, “No!” It’s worth noting that the whole conversation is happening in the context of the Oscars making a fairly major (and rare) break with tradition: This year’s ceremony will forgo Best Original Song performances completely, instead featuring “personal reflections” from the songwriters.
Join the discussion...
![Jeremy Strong, Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White reportedly in the mix for The Social Network Part II [UPDATED]](https://img.pastemagazine.com/wp-content/avuploads/2025/07/31093323/MixCollage-31-Jul-2025-09-33-AM-7987.jpg)
