Anonymous voters reveal why they didn’t vote for Ariana Grande following snub

The eagerly-anticipated 98th Academy Awards - AKA the Oscars - is set to return in March and TV and film lovers across the globe will no doubt have a whole lot to say on the winners, given their reactions to the nominees already.

Ryan Coogler's Sinners, starring Michael B. Jordan, is definitely the film to watch given its historic 16 nominations, beating the record of 14 nominations shared by All About Eve, Titanic and La La Land.

We're seeing a lot of overlap between the heavy-hitters at the Golden Globes earlier this month, with Jessie Buckley securing a nomination in the best actress category for Hamnet, while Timothée Chalamet is up once again for best actor for Marty Supreme.

Wicked: For Good, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, didn't receive a single nomination - which is quite shocking for some fans given that the first film scored 10 nominations back in 2025.

Anonymous voters for the Oscars have since spoken to NewsNation about their controversial decision to leave out Wicked: For Good from any category nominations.

According to the news outlet, while they claimed the 'movie wasn’t that great' compared to the first one, the decision seemed to actually come down to Ariana and Cynthia.

"The movie wasn't that great," one voter told the outlet. "The two have amazing on-screen chemistry but spent most of the movie apart."

They continued: "I was also just completely turned off by their promotional performances. They creeped a lot of people out and in their rush to feel authentic, came off as cosplaying."

Meanwhile, another hit out regarding the Oscar snub: "The movie wasn't that good and they sucked the air out of any red carpet they were on - and no one wanted to go through that again.

"Think of it this way: We were protecting Ariana from her anxiety - and Cynthia from having to intervene. Again."

Wicked: For Good was snubbed by the Oscars this year (Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)

Understandably, die-hard fans of both actresses and the franchise have rushed to social media to share their thoughts.

One Reddit user slammed: "If this is true (which I don't believe it is), it's very unprofessional. You base your vote off their performance, not the viral attention they were getting. This also feels like another way to villainise Cynthia."

"I mean, if the voters were professional, then campaigning wouldn’t matter. But it very much does," jabbed another.

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo fans rushed to social media to share their outrage (Bruce Glikas / Contributor / Getty Images)

Others, however, weren't so pressed.

"Why is this necessary? There's a lot of performances that don't get Oscars every year, wicked isn't exactly Oscar bait, and it's a sequel to a movie that came out last year and did get some recognition then," assured another.

And a final Redditor added: "Yeah no I’m pretty sure it was just because there were…better performances this year…"

Tyla has reached out to the Academy Awards press office for comment.