After Common disparaged rumors of unequal pay between “Depraved” stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, Grande has expanded on simply how far she and her co-star went to make sure equity was upheld between them.

Whereas talking at a SAG-AFTRA Basis Dialog, the 31-year-old Grammy winner mentioned when she obtained her contract for “Depraved,” she known as up Erivo to undergo it “beat by beat” to make sure their wants had been “aligned” going into filming.

“After I obtained my contract, I known as [Erivo], and was like, ‘Hey let’s undergo this factor. Let’s go beat by beat by means of this collectively and ensure we’re aligned in what we’d like,’” Grande mentioned. “If [Erivo needs] one thing, we’d like it collectively. I would like us to have one another’s backs. Your issues turn into my issues and mine turn into yours.”

Grande went on to elucidate simply how “granular” her reference to Erivo was even earlier than manufacturing started, including that “any press tour” or “brief little TikTok” couldn’t precisely seize the breadth of their friendship.

“It’s unimaginable to essentially share the depths of how actual that’s. We began creating that lengthy earlier than we ever obtained to set,” Grande mentioned. “I feel it was a extremely vital a part of the work that we did. I’m actually grateful as a result of one of many issues that I’m most pleased with is how we nurtured one another.”

After opening Nov. 22, the extremely anticipated Broadway to large display adaptation has amassed a staggering $472,042,574 worldwide gross, the ninth highest of 2024. The “Wizard of Oz” prequel follows Erivo’s Elphaba (The Depraved Witch of the West) and Grande’s Glinda (The Good), who had been shut associates and schoolmates earlier than the arrival of Dorothy and Toto.