The View keeps up with the trends, and sure enough, the talk show jumped on the internet’s current favorite moment when they launched into a discussion of Cynthia Erivo‘s now-viral interview about Wicked fans “holding space” for “Defying Gravity.”
While on a press tour with her co-star Ariana Grande, Erivo was asked about her reaction to people “holding space” with the lyrics of Elphaba’s famous song and “feeling power” in it.
An emotional Erivo replied, “I didn’t know that that was happening. That’s really powerful. That’s what I wanted.”
When she repeated, “I didn’t know that was happening,” Tracy Gilchrist, the journalist interviewing Erivo, told her that she’d seen the reaction in “a couple posts.”
On today’s episode of The View, the co-hosts couldn’t help but laugh at the interview, with Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin even briefly recreating Erivo and Grande’s hand-holding.
Griffin said “nobody” know what the “holding space” line means — even the film’s star, Erivo.
“I’m convinced that Cynthia Erivo actually had no idea what the question was, but she’s such a good actor that she was just like, ‘Yes, they are, they’re holding space!’ She doesn’t know what she was talking about,” Griffin said with a laugh.
When Joy Behar wondered, “What does ‘holding space’ mean?” Hostin stepped in to give a little explanation to the table.
“I did some research because I wanted to be able to hold space,” she said as the audience laughed. Hostin then read the definition of holding space, courtesy of Psychology Today.
“A practice of making space for somebody else’s experience and centering them, and once those circumstances are created, holding space fosters listening and empathizing,” she read.
This being The View and Behar being Behar, she quipped, “Are we supposed to hold space for Trump supporters now?”
The View airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.