Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande Burst Into Tears After Their Oscars 'Wicked' Performance

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater Showed Some Rare PDA at the 2025 Oscars 2025 Oscars with a jaw-dropping, standing-ovation-receiving, and chill-inducing performance. And after bringing their entire Wicked The emotional duo shed tears backstage.

Grande and Erivo, who have been known to let out a few good cries, especially during their viral press tour, were photographed backstage at the 2025 Oscars weeping of joy following their moving Wicked medley.

The duo took the stage to perform "Over the Rainbow" and "Home" from The Wiz before belting out the film's biggest musical number, "Defying Gravity." After Erivo sang the final notes of the iconic song and aced Elphaba's famed battle cry, she and Grande received a standing ovation from the crowd. Among the members of the audience were their Wicked co-stars, Ethan Slater, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, and director Jon M. Chu, who all appeared to have tears in their eyes as they applauded their castmates. Yeoh could also be seen wiping tears from her face.

Grande and Erivo have become much more than co-stars since starring in the movie together. Last weekend, Erivo gushed about the Glinda to her Elphaba at the 2025 SAG Awards. “This film brought us together, but it's not the thing that keeps us together,” Erivo said. “We were lucky because we got to meet each other on this project, but when the project goes away, we're still good friends. That's still my sister. It's not this that's keeping us together.”

And the feeling is mutual. Grande was just as effusive about her pal during a previous episode of Penn Badgley's podcast Podcrushed: "To just feel like we somehow speak the same language and somehow we're destined to do this together and to feel safe every single day together and hold space."