Cynthia Erivo Addresses "Ghetto American Accent" Comments
Back in 2019, Cynthia Erivo opponed up about old tweets that surfaced in connection to her upcoming role as Harriet Tubman in 'Harriet,' the comments have followed her to her co-starring role in 'Wicked: For Good.'
(Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for AFI)
Editor's Note: This story was originally published in 2019 and has been updated to include recent work like 'Wicked: For Good.'
Ahead of the release of her 2019 historic film Harriet, Cynthia Erivo addressed resurfaced tweets depicting African Americans in a bad light in 2013.
In an interview with Shadow and Act during the Toronto International Film Festival, a part of her press run, Erivo shared: "I would say it took a lot of hard work to get to this place [of playing Harriet Tubman] and I didn't take it lightly." She also said, "I love this woman and I love Black people full stop. It would do me no service, it would be like hating myself."
Erivo, who is British, received flack for allegedly tweeting about a "ghetto american accent" after one Twitter user wondered why she was given an African American role. Directed by Kesi Lemmons, Harriet explored the historical figure Harriet Tubman's life from slavery to freedom.
On the tweets, she said "As for the tweets, taken out of context without giving me the room to tell you what it meant--and it wasn’t mocking anyone really. It wasn’t for that purpose at all. It was to celebrate a song I had wrote when I was 16."
Erivo has continued a prosperous career with old Tweets behind her. In 2025 she starred in the follow-up to Wicked, a hit musical franchise based in the world of The Wizard of Oz, where Erivo stars alongside Ariana Grande.
Users on social media have continued to bring up the old Tweets as a way of criticizing Erivo for profiting off of Black film roles.
