SZA believes that Cynthia Erivo has become a victim of "classic misogynoir," specifically during the actor's time promoting Wicked: For Good, and she wants the online attacks to cease.
On Friday (November 28), the five-time Grammy winner reacted to an Instagram reel about the "out of hand" mistreatment that Erivo has received on the movie's press tour.
Some of the memes have included Erivo animated as a skeleton or mimicked by men, particularly the viral clip of Erivo shielding Ariana Grande when a fan ambushed her in Singapore earlier this month.
The content creator, known as thefilmdiva, noted "underlying tones of racism" in the offensive memes, which SZA agreed with.
"Ir not bugging and no one is too woke ! It’s CLASSIC Misogynoir! NOTHING ELSE !!! can’t believe it’s openly a thing in 2025," the singer commented.
"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 🤷🏾♀️," SZA concluded.
SZA has spoken up for Erivo before, namely when the entertainer was named among British GQ's Men of the Year, just like the "Snooze" artist was this year for the U.S. edition of GQ.
"I'm confused .. it's 2025," SZA responded, writing in a TikTok comment. "Kim Kardashian and so many other women have been chosen. I'm also man of the year. It's the category name .. not an identity.. I'm sorry but this is a non topic.
Despite how fans perceived Erivo defending Grande in Singapore, the actor stood by her actions on TODAY.
"I was really thinking, 'I just wanted to make sure my friend was safe,' you know?" Erivo explained. "I'm sure he didn't mean us harm, but you never know with those things, and I wanted to make sure that she was OK. That was my first instinct."