Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo fought to make sure they were paid equally as Wicked costars.
Along with the film's director, Jon M. Chu, the ladies grace the new Variety cover, and in the story, it was clarified that Grande was not paid more than Erivo, despite speculation that she was.
"We went through our contracts together," Grande told the outlet, addin "and called each other up. ‘Did you see that? What do you think about that? Let’s get it together!’"
In November, a Universal Studios spokesperson addressed the rumor to The Hollywood Reporter, denying that Grande raked in $15 million while Erivo walked away with $1 million.
"Reports of pay disparity between Cynthia and Ariana are completely false and based on internet fodder. The women received equal pay for their work on Wicked," the rep said.
Erivo told Variety that she and Grande continued to discuss terms of their contracts with the production company. "We both went through it — ‘What number are we doing? How do you feel about that?’ We were really fucking honest,"she said. "And that’s really rare. People don’t do that."
"We’re very different, but when we’re doing something like this together, her needs become my needs," Grande added, before Erivo said, "And her needs become mine."
Wicked has been a huge hit, opening with $164 million in its first weekend. Part two is set to be released in November of this year.
