Journalist behind Wicked 'holding space' interview now admits she was 'thrown' by Cynthia Erivo's response

The journalist behind Cynthia Erivo's bizarre 'holding space' interview has now confessed she was 'thrown' by the Wicked star's melodramatic response.

Fans were left baffled by an 'uncomfortable' interview in which Cynthia and reporter Tracy E. Gilchrist talked about the audience reaction to Wicked: Part One.

Tracy brought up the film's closing number Defying Gravity and claimed people were 'taking the lyrics' and 'really holding space with that,' in an interview for Out.

Cynthia, who leads the cast of the movie as Elphaba, was visibly overwhelmed, putting a hand over her chest and saying: 'I didn't know that was happening. That's really powerful. That's what I wanted.'

'I’ve seen it on a couple of posts,' Tracy told Cynthia, adding: 'I don’t know how widespread - but, you know, I am in queer media.'

Now, however, Tracy has slightly backpedaled her initial comments - and revealed how startled she was by Cynthia's reaction to them.

The 'holding space' exchange became a viral meme on social media, where Cynthia's overwrought behavior inspired widespread mockery.

Fans also ribbed Ariana, who was seated next to Cynthia during the interview and grabbed one of her co-star's fingers in a display of emotional support. 

Now Tracy has given a new interview about the exchange, revealing what went through her head while she spoke with Cynthia.

She was asked if she could remember any specific examples of the 'posts' she mentioned about people 'holding space' for Defying Gravity, and confessed: 'Most of it actually came from a conversation with a friend.'

Tracy explained: 'I was using that to tee up the question, and I was a little thrown off by [Cynthia’s] response because it was so sincere and real. I was a little flustered. I could have said: "I have all these friends, and this is our conversation." But instead I said: "I’m in queer media."'

Although she noted that she has 'interviewed Cynthia before, so I went in very sincerely,' Tracy was still able to see the funny side of the situation, saying: 'I’m glad people are finding joy in it and laughing, and that it’s so viral.'

Tracy also explained what exactly she meant by 'holding space,' a phrase that social media users found especially amusing and perplexing. 

'"Holding space" is being physically, emotionally and mentally present with someone or something. For me, it means being in the moment, not being distracted and feeling something on a cellular level,' said Tracy.

Tracy added that she believes a song, even one you've heard before, can 'take on new meaning when you’re a queer person'. 

The journalist claimed the 'Trump administration is targeting LGBTQ+ people' and that when Erivo sings the lyric 'I'm through accepting limits', it resonates with 'anyone who is marginalized'.

Tracy continued: 'Of course, there are cynics and haters out there but I’m really just trying to not pay too much attention to that. 

'This was for us, for queer people who understand what I meant by holding space - or really, for anybody who feels marginalized and can relate.'

The journalist admitted, however, that the 'couple of posts' she referred to in the viral clip when explaining to the singing sensation about the 'holding space' reaction, actually mostly came from a conversation with a friend. 

After watching the bizarre exchange, one viewer said on X: 'I'm holding space for the video about holding space for the Defying Gravity lyrics. 

'I don't understand what holding space means or why it's so powerful but I'm holding space for the potential to understand the space I'm holding.'

A second asked if the cast of Wicked are okay. She said: 'I am obsessed with whatever on Earth is going on with the cast of Wicked. Every press interview I've seen has been bizarre.

'Are they okay? What is happening?' Another person said the interview in general had 'weird and uncomfortable vibes'. 

Others simply mocked the language used by Tracy, with the phrase 'holding space for the lyrics of Defying Gravity' quickly becoming a joke on social media.

But some pointed to another strange moment in the same interview, in which Ariana Grande - who plays Glinda Upland in the film - appears to caress her co-star's finger as she speaks.

Grande, 31, also appeared emotional over the 'Defying Gravity' remarks, and reached out to grab her co-star's pointer finger in an apparent display of support.

'What was this?' one person wrote on X alongside a screenshot of Grande's hand wrapped around Erivo's finger.  'Is this a sketch comedy show or something?' asked someone else.

Another user added, 'The finger grab,' along with a skull emoji. 'Watching this makes me feel like I'm huffing gasoline, it's so surreal, like why is Ariana holding her singular finger like that?' read a fourth tweet.

This interview is far from the first time Erivo and Grande have raised eyebrows for their behaviour while on a busy global press tour for Wicked.

During a slew of interviews and red carpet events, the stars have broken down in tears on multiple occasions - even once apologising for doing so.

'We've cried 500 times today. And honestly, this is a PSA. So sorry guys,' Grande told E! News earlier this month.

'It is what it is,' her British-born co-star Erivo added. 'There's just nothing we can do about it.'

Earlier, she had sought to explain why she and Grande have broken down in tears on so many occasions while promoting the film.

Speaking on the Heart Breakfast show, Amanda Holden told Erivo: 'Every interview I've read Cynthia of you and Ariana, it just says that you end up in tears all the time.'

Erivo replied: 'We do!

'And I think it's because people have come in with such energy and they come in, their responses, their emotional responses come into the room with us, it's the first time we've been able to talk about it, so we're both reliving and rehashing all the things we've been through and the journey we've been on.

'We can't help it. We get very emotional about it.'

Holden added: 'Yeah, I don't blame you.

'You went through Covid, you went through strikes, there was all kind of obstacles to overcome to make this movie.'

For some fans though, the tear-jerking moments have been a little too much.

'Does anyone else find it bizarre that the press tour of Wicked just seems to be the actresses bawling crying all the time,' one wrote on X.

'Literally the only press videos from Wicked I've seen are of these two crying,' another added.

Echoing a similar sentiment, a third said: 'Genuinely what is going on with this Wicked press tour, like are these girls okay????? They're always bawling their eyes out.'

The filming of the 2024 film adaptation of the Broadway musical Wicked took about a year, with principal photography starting in December 2022 in England.

The shoot was paused in July 2023 due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, only to pick back up after the winter holidays of that same year and eventually conclude in January 2024.

Director Jon M. Chu decided to film the adaptation in two separate movies, so that means the cast and crew will be doing all the promotional interviews all over again this time next year.

Wicked is the origin story of 'a green-skinned woman who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West' and serves as a prequel to The Wizard Of Oz, exploring the narrative before Dorothy's arrival and delving into the former friendship between the characters Elphaba and Glinda.

Critics' reviews for Wicked have already poured in and for the most part they have applauded the leading stars' performances.

The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw described it as a 'sugar-rush fantasy with the overpowering star presence of Cynthia Erivo; it basically dunks you face-down in a hyperreal ball pit of M&Ms for two and three-quarter hours.'

Praising Erivo's performance he added: 'Erivo's charismatic Elphaba exerting a planetary pull over a star-studded cast'.

The Daily Mail's Brian Viner wrote: 'It's a fabulous spectacle, which demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible.'