Painting the town green (Wicked + Brat) | Popping In, Vol. 9
Ethan Slater, Cynthia Erivo, and Charli xcx - oh my!
And just like that, it’s November. What!? The weather might be saying otherwise but yes, we have made it to the second to last month of the year which means it’s just about time for holiday music but more importantly: Grammy Nominations and Wicked.
ANYWAY, I hope you guys are enjoying your weekend! I’m kicking off November with a girl’s trip in New Jersey, if you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while, you might remember me calling it “The Big Chill”. Lots of thrifting, drinking, snacking, and singing - a perfect weekend, if you ask me.
In case you missed this week’s episode, you can listen below or read my podcast notes here.
But we all know the real reason you’re reading this newsletter, to dive into some pop culture news from the last few days that was too pop to handle. Between Wicked and Brat, let’s paint the town green. Shall we?
Ethan Slater opens up about Ariana Grande with GQ (finally)
I know this is an unpopular opinion…but I love hearing about Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater’s relationship. I’ve been covering their relationship on the podcast since my very first episode and I’ve said it time and time again: a LOT of you owe Ariana Grande an apology. That being said…
Ethan Slater sat down with GQ and we’re finally getting to hear about his experience becoming our on-screen Boq and how much he admires our on-screen Glinda.
She’s amazing. She’s a comedian who’s also got this crazy voice that can do anything. My unbiased opinion is that she’s one of the best comedians that’s been in a movie in a long time. She’s a genius.
Ariana Grande can do anything? Yeah, we know. This is the first time we’re hearing Ethan open up about Ariana (understandably), and I’m starting to wonder if the Wicked premiere is going to be their first official public appearance together?
Of course the elephant in the room is his POV on what went down in Oz when him and Ariana were getting slammed with “homewrecker” allegations.
There were a lot of big changes in private lives that were really happening, so it’s really hard to see people who don’t know anything about what’s happening commenting on it and speculating, and then getting things wrong about the people you love.
I personally love love and am eating up hearing about this relationship after months of speculation and wondering what went down. Will we ever know exactly what happened in Oz? Of course not. However, I’m excited to see how this relationship develops in the public eye after Wicked premieres later this month.
Cynthia Erivo wishes she just called a friend instead of lashing out over Wicked poster
While we’re on the topic of Wicked, let’s chat about our on-screen Elphaba. After all, pink goes good with green!
Cynthia Erivo took to her Instagram story this week after she cooling down from her explosive reaction to fans editing the Wicked movie poster.
I think I'm really protective of the role and just as I'm passionate as- well I am passionate about it and I know that the fans are passionate about it, and I think for me it was just like a human moment of like, wanting to protect little Elphaba. And it was like a human moment. I probably should've called my friends, but. It's fine.
Like I stated in my newsletter when I covered this original story, I think fan edits and deepfakes are something new to Cynthia and when it’s being done to you during the biggest project of your career, it can definitely be frustrating.
Ariana Grande was asked about what she thought about her co-star’s reaction to these edits at the Academy Museum Gala in which she responded:
I find AI so conflicting and troublesome sometimes, but I think it’s just kind of such a massive adjustment period. This is something that is so much bigger than us, and the fans are gonna have fun and make their edits. I have so much respect for my sister, Cynthia, and I love her so much. It’s just a big adjustment period. It’s so much stimulation about something that’s so much bigger than us.
Admitting when your wrong isn’t an easy thing to do, especially at the level in which Cynthia Erivo is currently at, so kudos to her for owning it and keeping things pushing.
Charli xcx set for double duty on SNL + ‘Brat’ is the word of the year
You guys thought Brat was dying after Brat summer, didn’t you? Not so fast! Ms. Xcx will be joining the Double Duty SNL club on November 16th when she returns to Studio 8H as the host and musical guest. She’ll be the 44th person to join this club and is in very bratty company with Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, and Dua Lipa being members of this club too. This will be Charli’s third time appearing on SNL, her other two appearances being a musical guest (2014 + 2022).
Earlier this season Bowen Yang (another Wicked co-star, clearly this movie is at the complete forefront of my brain this month) played Charli in a skit called the ‘Talk Talk Show’ so I’m very excited to see how they integrate her into the skits.
On the topic of Brat, Collins Dictionary has officially deemed ‘Brat’ as the word of the year which just feels so correct.
‘Brat’,newly defined in 2024 as ‘characterized by a confident, independent, and hedonistic attitude’, has been named Collins' Word of the Year 2024. Inspired by the Charli XCX album, ‘brat’ has become one of the most talked about words of 2024. More than a hugely successful album, ‘brat’ is a cultural phenomenon that has resonated with people globally, and ‘brat summer’ established itself as an aesthetic and a way of life.
As someone who’s been a fan of Charli for over 10 years, I will never get tired of seeing people finally “getting it.”
That wraps up this week’s newsletter! Hope you’re all having a fabulous weekend, I'll chat with you on Wednesday! 💖