Ariana Grande defended after being called out over 'queer' Wicked claim

Thousands of Wicked fans have jumped to the defence of actress Ariana Grande this week after a controversial comment she made about the franchise's 'queerness' went viral online.

The US pop star plays Glinda the Good Witch alongside co-lead Cynthia Erivo's 'Wicked Witch'/Elphaba in the cinematic adaptation of the Broadway hit.

The story of The Wizard of Oz and its on-stage prequel have both long resonated with the LGBTQ+ community, being that they both centre on themes of friendship, standing together against oppression and celebrating one's own individuality.

Earlier this week, a fan theory began trending online that - despite Wicked's two lead characters forming part of a 'love triangle' with Jonathan Bailey's Prince Fiyero - there are hints at a deeper romance going on between Elphaba and Glinda, with some fans claiming they 'ship' the duo.

Cynthia previously told the Gay Times that her character 'goes wherever the wind goes' - adding: "I don’t think there’s anything wrong with celebrating the deep connection that both of them have."

Ariana meanwhile teased: "Glinda might be a little in the closet. You never know. Give it a little more time."

And away from the movie, the duo are broadly considered to be allies of the LGBTQ+ community, with Cynthia - who is currently dating actress and producer Lena Waithe - identifying as queer and bisexual.

Ariana, meanwhile, spoke publicly against the Catholic Church due to its strict views on homosexuality and began practicing Kabbala, with her brother, social media star Frankie Grande, being gay.

Despite their positive intentions, however, 34-year-old Ariana this week divided fans with a controversial comment she made about the Oz films whilst promoting Wicked.

"Yeah, everyone is just so beautifully queer," she said about the story in a now viral interview with Gay Times. "And that roots all the way back to the Frank Baum books where like, literally, the most commonly used word in the books is 'queer', and it starred queer lovely, beautiful friends and, erm, I don't know.

"It's just a celebration, and how do you honour that history?"

Now, several online content creators aren't best pleased with her choice of words - including one Instagram star named @bradpolumbo, who asked in an infuriated video earlier this week: "Is Ariana Grande okay?"

He went on to poke fun at the star: "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published in the year 1900, so the reason that it used the word 'queer' a tonne through the text was not because it was a work as LGBTQIA 2 spirit plus WiFi password community whatever ally-ship.

"No, it was because, back then, 'queer' was routinely used as a word that really meant 'strange', or 'odd'. It had nothing to do with queerness as Ariana Grande or Cynthia Erivo might understand that concept today.

"Does she not know that? I mean, I don't expect my pop stars and actresses to be savants or sophisticated consumers of literature, but yikes.

"To have put all this work into this and still have such profound misconceptions about it is kind of embarrassing."

As we say, however, thousands of viewers have since fled to Ariana's defence, insisting that she's doing what she can in aid of the queer community compared to other stars with equally high-profile platforms.

Taking to the comments, one hit out: "She's giving it a broader explanation that LGBTQ+ ppl always feel queer as his meaning means. Stop analyzing things in black and white.

"She's the one that went deeper with this. You're the one that looked at it superficially. Try again."

Another penned: "Um... I don't think she was being literal here. Plus, someone could easily read this into the original Wizard book. Gay people were called queer because they were seen as strange but in Oz, the strange is accepted as normal".

And a third added: "Ummmm …. are you okay? Research the word 'queer.' It’s been used as a gay slur since the late 1800s into the early 1900s.

"It also has/had other meanings as well. Education isn’t for everyone I suppose….".