It's time to trust your instincts, close your eyes...and try holding space for "Defying Gravity." Or at least that's what Wicked fans will have you believe after an interview with stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo went viral late last week.
In the video, Tracy E. Gilchrist, an interviewer from Out Magazine who was apparently through with playing by the rules of someone else's game, told Grande and Erivo, "I've seen this week people are taking the lyrics of 'Defying Gravity' and really holding space with that and holding power in that." Erivo replied in a whisper, "Uh, I didn't know that that was happening." They go on to exchange more hushed words in the same vein while Grande takes hold of one of Erivo's fingers.
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It became so popular that Out released an interview with Gilchrist, where she explained the context of her conversation with Erivo. "When I posed the question to Cynthia about people holding space with the lyrics to 'Defying Gravity,' it was two days after the election, and everyone I knew in the LGBTQ+ community was trying to make sense of what we might be facing. I loved her response, and I love that people are having a laugh, because I know I could use one about now," she said.
The combination of the bizarrely sincere tone of the interview and the strange words exchanged inspired many reactions and memes online. On X one user explained, "I can't tell what my favorite part of this video is: the solemnity in announcing people have been 'holding space' for the lyrics of a 20 year old song, Cynthia acting like she personally wrote it, Ariana holding onto Cynthia's index finger, or the reveal of 'a couple of posts.'"
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Others riffed on past memes. One wrote, "Hey! I'm so glad you reached out. I'm actually holding space with the lyrics of Defying Gravity right now, and I don't think I can hold appropriate space for you. Could we connect [later date or time] instead / Do you have someone else you could reach out to?" Another said, "You took the defying gravity lyrics out of context at the holding space apartment complex."
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Needless to say "holding space" has become the phrase du jour on platforms like X and Bluesky, where posters are imagining characters like Carrie Bradshaw to Don Corleon holding space for "Defying Gravity." They are even using it in completely different contexts like, "hey a bunch of us are outside holding space for cigarettes if you wanna join."
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While others focused on the finger grabbing. One user edited the clutched fingers onto the Wicked movie poster, and another edited Grande's delicate grip on Erivo's finger alongside "The Creation of Adam."
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With the video and the memes, you can have all you've ever wanted.
