NEW YORK — Ariana Grande announced Thursday she has tested positive for COVID-19, capping a global press tour for “Wicked: For Good” marked by illness, travel disruptions and a security breach.
The 32-year-old actress and singer revealed her diagnosis on Instagram Stories, posting a photo from her Tuesday appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” with the caption “moments before Covid.”
The announcement comes just one day before “Wicked: For Good,” Universal Pictures’ sequel to 2024’s “Wicked,” opens in theaters Friday. Grande stars as Glinda the Good Witch opposite Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba in director Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the Broadway musical.
Grande’s diagnosis forced her to cancel several promotional commitments, including a taped appearance on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” and multiple Q&A sessions scheduled for this week. Erivo will now appear alone on the talk show.
The COVID diagnosis is the latest setback in what has been a challenging press tour for the “Wicked: For Good” cast. Days earlier at the film’s New York premiere Monday, both Grande and Erivo skipped red carpet interviews after Erivo fell ill and lost her voice. Grande appeared alongside her co-star in solidarity.
The tour, which launched Nov. 4 in São Paulo, Brazil, encountered problems from the start. Grande was unable to attend the Brazilian premiere due to what sources described as “a safety issue” with her plane.
On Nov. 13, the Singapore premiere turned chaotic when a man identified as 26-year-old Johnson Wen of Australia jumped security barricades and rushed Grande on the red carpet, grabbing the actress. Erivo quickly intervened, pushing the man away from her co-star. Wen pleaded guilty to one charge of being a public nuisance and was sentenced to nine days in jail by Singapore authorities Monday.
This marks at least the second time both actresses have contracted COVID-19 during their time filming and promoting the “Wicked” franchise. While filming the first movie in 2024, Erivo tested positive days before shooting the pivotal “Defying Gravity” sequence, while Grande contracted the virus shortly before filming “Popular.”
The press tour took Grande and the cast through São Paulo, Paris, London, Singapore and New York over two weeks, with premieres featuring extensive red carpet events and media appearances.
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